Dalton Eatherly, a 28-year-old live streamer known online as “Chud the Builder,” appeared in court on Friday, May 15, 2026, facing a charge of attempted murder and several other felonies.
The charges stem from a shooting that occurred on Wednesday outside the Montgomery County Courthouse in Clarksville, Tennessee.
General Session Court Judge Reid Poland III set Eatherly’s bond at $1.25 million, citing the gravity of the felonies and the high number of bystanders present in the courthouse courtyard during the incident. Eatherly is also charged with employing a firearm during a dangerous felony, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon.
If convicted of attempted criminal homicide, he faces a sentence of 15 to 60 years in a state penitentiary.
The shooting followed a confrontation between Eatherly and an unidentified man. Eatherly, whose online history is characterized by the use of racial slurs and videos targeting Black people, livestreamed the aftermath of the encounter while speaking to first responders.
He claimed he acted in self-defense after the man allegedly “started whaling” on him for using racial epithets. Both men sustained gunshot wounds and were hospitalized in stable condition; while Eatherly remains in custody, the other individual has been released.
This incident occurred just days after Eatherly was arrested on May 9 in Nashville. In that case, he was kicked out of a restaurant for being disruptive and making racial statements, eventually refusing to pay a $371.55 bill.
He was charged with theft of services, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest, and had been released on a $5,000 bond prior to the shooting.
Eatherly was reportedly at the courthouse on Wednesday for a civil hearing regarding a $3,300 debt to a credit management company. A preliminary hearing for the criminal charges is scheduled for May 26.
