A livestreamer known for posting videos online with racist content appeared in court Friday morning on charges including attempted murder after shooting a man outside a Tennessee courthouse, according to authorities.
According to an arrest warrant, Dalton Eatherly — known online as “Chud the Builder” — got into an argument with another man, identified by authorities as Joshua Fox, outside the Montgomery County Courthouse in Clarksville on Wednesday afternoon.
Etherley, 28, turned his body toward Fox and reached for a gun in his jacket pocket, leading to a “physical altercation,” the warrant says. According to the documents, Eatherly fired his weapon and Fox was struck multiple times.
Fox, who is Black, is a disabled veteran and “a loving father of three wonderful children whose lives have been profoundly impacted by this injustice,” said his mother, Carolyn Smith.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said the livestreamer now faces additional charges including use of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon.
During his arraignment and bond hearing, General Sessions Court Judge Reed Poland III set bond at $1.25 million, “based on the fact how many people were in the courthouse and the seriousness of all these felonies.”
When the judge announced the bond amount, Etherly, wearing a marked Montgomery County Jail jumpsuit, could be seen briefly closing his eyes.
Attempted criminal murder carries a possible sentence of 15 to 60 years in Tennessee state prison, the judge said.
Eatherly’s track record on social media reveals a history of him posting videos using racial slurs toward black people and other minorities, including at least one instance of using force against a black person. The streamer often refers to black people as chimpanzees in his online videos.
After Wednesday’s shooting, Etherly livestreamed himself talking to first responders. He described passing by a group of people who Eatherly said were “laughing” and “pointing at me.” Etherly said he was asked to leave by an unidentified man in the group, who then came up to Etherly and said, “I have PTSD.”
“He said, ‘You start saying all this crap to me and ‘Imma hit you,’ and he hit me. He started attacking me, even though I had to defend myself by shooting him,” Eatherly said in the video.
According to the warrant, Fox — who authorities said was initially detained with Eatherly, then released — was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center and underwent emergency surgery. The sheriff’s office said Etherley was also struck by gunfire and taken to the hospital.
In a statement to CNN, Fox’s mother thanked “the many people in our community and around the world who have supported my son during this incredibly difficult time.” He asked the public to continue to respect the family’s privacy as they focus on healing.
He said, “We are confident that justice will prevail. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’
The warrant revealed that there were several innocent bystanders in the area when shots were fired around 1:20 p.m., and surveillance video of the incident shows “a ricocheting projectile hitting nearby walls.” CNN has not been able to view the surveillance video.
A preliminary hearing for Etherley was set for May 26.
Attorney Jake Fendley was appointed to represent Etherley at the hearing. Court records show he has represented Etherley in the past.
In a statement hours after the hearing, Fendley told CNN he couldn’t share much about the case because it is still pending, but he said he became Etherley’s attorney after the public defender’s office filed a motion to withdraw from the case.
Fendley said her office has been receiving hateful phone calls and emails since she was appointed to Atherley, but that her role is “to represent people regardless of their race, religion, ideology or the allegations against them.”
“This entire case is disturbing. Racism is a terrible thing and it’s a flawed way of thinking,” the lawyer’s statement reads in part.
According to an affidavit, Etherly’s previous arrest came after another incident on Saturday, when he was kicked out of a restaurant in Nashville and later arrested on charges of theft of services, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Prosecutors in that case described him as a livestreamer who “filmed content, including racially charged material” on social media, an affidavit said.
The affidavit states that restaurant staff told Etherly not to livestream or cause a disruption inside the establishment, but he did so anyway. When she was asked to stop livestreaming, Etherly “became disruptive and began making racial slurs, yelling, screaming” and causing a disturbance, the affidavit said.
He allegedly refused to pay for his meal, which cost $371.55, saying, “I’m not paying if you’re kicking me out,” the affidavit says.
Etherley was taken into custody a few hours later. When officers tried to handcuff him, he initially pulled away, but was then arrested without incident, the affidavit says. He was later released on $5,000 bond, according to a judge’s order.
A hearing in a civil case between Atherly and Midland Credit Management Inc. was scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Montgomery County Courthouse — where the shooting occurred — but it was unclear whether he appeared for the hearing, court records show. According to county court records, he allegedly owed the credit company $3,300, the AP reports.
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