On the other hand, between idiots SWATing each other and just how cringey and hateful people act online, I can kind of excuse the police if they are having a hard time figuring out what the real threats are and who is just being an attention whore.

SWATing needs to be a prison-able offense. And if anything goes wrong on on the SWAT call, the prankster should be held accountable for some or all of it.