‘Chud the builder’ livestreams from scene of Clarksville court shooting
‘Chud the Builder’ livestreams from scene of Clarksville court shooting
Online personality Chud the Builder is staying behind bars for now.
Davidson County Judge Melissa Blackburn revoked bond for Dalton Eatherly, his given name, on June 17 in three Nashville cases he was charged with days before the shooting outside the Montgomery County Courthouse.
“Based on what I’ve seen on social media and Mr. Eatherly’s behavior,” Blackburn said of her decision to revoke.
Eatherly was on bond when he was arrested in Clarksville. A condition of his bond in Nashville was that he not be charged with any more crimes.
The hearing June 17 was initially scheduled as a preliminary hearing. Instead Assistant District Attorney Jeff Walker motioned to revoke his bond. Meanwhile, Eatherly’s attorney, Jacob Fendley, filed a motion to dismiss the charges.
Blackburn only heard the motion to revoke his bond.
Walker called Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Detective Michael Weber to the stand. Weber testified about the charges Eatherly faces in Clarksville, the basis of the revocation motion.
Several of Eatherly’s social media posts, which are often racially charged, were displayed on a TV screen for those in the courtroom to see. Several Metro Nashville police officers, in the courtroom for other cases, shifted in their seats to better see the screen.
Walker played two videos from Eatherly’s social media accounts, recorded before his arrests.
“It’s only proper escalation. It’s inevitable,” Eatherly said in one video, talking about how he thought he’d end up shooting a Black person. “Just imagine the headline. ‘Chud the Builder kills a Black man.’ It’s almost like it’s going to happen.”
Several days later, he was charged with attempted murder after a Black man was shot five times.
Fendley tried to ask Weber if he’d reviewed footage from the night his client was arrested in Nashville, including a live stream played in the courtroom June 17.
Walker objected, asking the judge to reserve questioning on the Nashville cases for the preliminary hearing. The basis for the revocation was his arrest in Clarksville, Walker explained.
“I would think the court would take special interest in the facts of the case that the state’s wanting to hold Mr. Eatherly without bail on, especially if he didn’t commit a crime,” Fendley said.
Fendley then reminded Blackburn about his motion to dismiss the cases.
“Right now we’re talking about the motion to revoke his bail,” Blackburn replied.
Blackburn set the preliminary hearing for June 25.
What is Chud the Builder charged with in Nashville?
Eatherly was initially arrested May 9 after Nashville police said he walked out on a nearly $400 restaurant tab.
Officers were called to Bob’s Steak and Chop in Nashville, a restaurant at the Omni Hotel on Rep. John Lewis Way South. The restaurant and security manager told police that they’d asked Eatherly not to livestream, according to his arrest affidavit.
Eatherly is known for live streaming racially charged content for social media views. He’d been filming content on Broadway in the days before his Nashville arrest.
Eatherly ordered two entrees, cocktails and appetizers totaling $371, according to the affidavit.
“When the restaurant realized he had been live streaming they asked him to stop his actions,” the affidavit said. “He became disruptive and started making racial statements, yelling, screaming and otherwise creating a scene at the location.”
Eatherly then said “I’m not paying if you are kicking me out,” the affidavit said. He then left the restaurant.
Police later found him walking on Broadway near 2nd Avenue South. When officers tried to take Eatherly into custody, he “pulled his arm away,” but was otherwise arrested without incident, the affidavit said.
Eatherly was charged with theft of services, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
His arrest in Nashville came days before he was charged after gunfire outside the Montgomery County courthouse injured a man. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail with bond in that case set at $1 million.
