Controversial streamer and content creator Dalton Levi Eatherly, better known as Chud the Builder, won’t be able to use any crowdfunding efforts to pay for his bond.
As reported by Clarksville Now, Eatherly's bond was initially set at $1.25 million but has since been reset to $1 million, as ruled by Judge H. Reid Poland III. There’s been extensive crowdfunding efforts from Eatherly’s fans, but the judge ruled that he won’t be able to use any of the money raised after May 13 to pay the bond. Eatherly, 28, has been charged with attempted murder, employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon in the May 13 shooting of Joshua Fox, a Black disabled veteran.
During a hearing on Thursday (May 21), Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office investigators presented findings in their investigation into the shooting, which went down outside of the Montgomery County Courthouse. Surveillance footage showed Eatherly approaching Fox, who was present at the court for a child support hearing, and getting into a verbal altercation. Eatherly, who was in possession of a selfie stick, walked away but then reached for a firearm in his jacket after Fox approached him.
Eatherly told investigators that he was reaching for mace, but the footage showed him “trying to pull his gun out of his jacket pocket.” The firearm is clearly visible in the footage, investigators added. Eatherly’s attorney, Jake Fendley, claimed that his client was placed in a headlock during the physical altercation that followed as he tried to pull out his gun, but lead investigator Michael Webber said the surveillance video does not corroborate those claims.
Seven shell casings were recovered from the scene, and Fox was shot in the torso and one of his arms during the incident. Eatherly also suffered a gunshot wound to the arm, which investigators believe was accidentally self-inflicted. A search of the controversial streamer’s property found that Eatherly had an airline ticket to Istanbul for May 22, a bulletproof vest, ammunition, a rifle, and a shotgun.
Seizure of his electronic devices also showed that he recorded and posted provocative videos in which he directed racial slurs at strangers. Several of his videos showed him referring to Black people as “chimps” and “n****rs.”
Eatherly has claimed self-defense in the incident. He was previously arrested in Nashville earlier this month for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and theft. A campaign that Eatherly launched via GiveSendGo prior to his streaming notoriety has since raised over $270,000.
