Dalton Levi Eatherly, a 28-year-old internet personality known online as “Chud the Builder,” is facing serious charges after a shooting on May 13, 2026. The incident happened right outside the Montgomery County Courts Center in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Today, Eatherly is in jail with a $1 million bail. His case has brought together a strange mix of internet money, an online casino, and a major debate over racism and safety in America.
Chud’s “Claim to Fame” and Worsening Racial Tensions
To understand why this trial is drawing so much attention, it helps to understand how Eatherly became famous. Eatherly’s entire online brand relies on provoking people. For over a year, his “claim to fame” has been live-streaming himself walking up to Black people in public places, using racial slurs, and insulting them until he gets an angry reaction on camera.
Many people argue that Eatherly’s videos have actively worsened racial tensions across America. At a time when the country is already deeply divided over race and police issues, Eatherly took these real-world anxieties and turned them into entertainment for profit. By treating racism as a game to get clicks and views, critics say he didn’t just document anger—he actively created it, adding fuel to an already dangerous fire across the nation.
The Shooting: Self-Defense or Baiting a Fight?
During a recent court hearing, prosecutors and defense lawyers laid out two completely different versions of the shooting:
- The Prosecutor’s Version: The state says Eatherly went to the courthouse looking for trouble. Security video shows him walking right up to Joshua Fox, a Black military veteran who was sitting outside with his wife. Eatherly had a selfie stick and started filming. The state showed internet posts Eatherly made just days earlier, where he used highly offensive racial slurs and warned that his “series finale” would end with someone “dead on the pavement.” Prosecutors argue he went out there intending to bait someone into a fight so he could use his gun.
- The Defense’s Version: Eatherly’s lawyer, Jacob Fendley, argues this is a clear case of self-defense. He says Eatherly’s online posts were just responses to death threats he had received from other people. More importantly, the video shows that Fox attacked Eatherly first, hitting him from behind. Eatherly’s lawyer argues that no matter what rude words were said, no one has the right to physically attack someone, and Eatherly had the right to protect himself.
During the struggle, Eatherly pulled out a gun and fired seven times. Fox was shot five times in the chest and arm but survived. Eatherly also accidentally shot himself in the arm.
The Catch: A Hidden Warrant
Eatherly’s legal team ran into a major problem on the morning of the hearing. Just two days before the shooting, Eatherly had been arrested in Nashville for refusing to pay a restaurant bill, yelling racial slurs at workers, and resisting arrest.
Because he was stuck in jail in Clarksville for the shooting, he missed his morning court date in Nashville for the restaurant incident. As a result, a Nashville judge issued an immediate arrest warrant (capias) for him. Eatherly’s lawyer found out about this live in court and promised to fight it later.
Weird Sources of Bail Money
Because Eatherly was already out on bail for other crimes when the shooting happened, Tennessee law required the judge to double his bail, bringing it to a massive $1 million. Eatherly has no past criminal convictions, so his team tried hard to get him out of jail using three unusual sources of money:
- Crowdfunding ($300,000): Eatherly’s fans raised $300,000 on a website called GiveSendGo. However, the judge ruled that Eatherly is legally blocked from using money raised after the shooting to pay his bail.
- Alex Rosen (“Predator Poachers”): A 26-year-old internet influencer named Alex Rosen came to court to help. Rosen runs an online group that tricks and catches child predators on camera. Rosen showed bank statements proving he makes six figures a month from online subscribers and has $500,000 in cash ready to go. Rosen called himself a “free speech absolutist” and offered to pay Eatherly’s bail out of his own pocket.
- An Offshore Online Casino: Eatherly’s lawyer revealed that the owners of an online gambling website called Duel.com (based overseas in Panama and Armenia) wanted to help. They tried to wire $1 million to a local bail bondsman to act as backup money.
What’s Happening Now?
Even with all this money available, the judge made things incredibly difficult for Eatherly.
The judge ruled that due to local court regulations, no single bail bonds company can post more than $100,000 for Eatherly. This means Eatherly’s lawyer cannot just take Alex Rosen’s cash or the casino’s money and hand it over. Instead, he has to coordinate with 10 different bail bond companies and get each one to agree to pay $100,000 to reach the $1 million total.
If Eatherly somehow manages to get all 10 companies to help him, he will still face strict rules upon release:
- He will have a strict curfew from 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM.
- He must wear a GPS tracking ankle monitor.
- He must provide a permanent address (which is hard, because his lawyer says he is currently being evicted from his home due to the media chaos).
- He is under a gag order, meaning he is not allowed to talk about the case online.
For now, Chud the Builder remains locked up in the Montgomery County Jail while his lawyers try to solve his massive bail puzzle.
Below is the full criminal rule and execution docket from Montgomery County.
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