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Dalton Eatherly, who posts racist videos online under the name “Chud the Builder,” faces an attempted murder charge after a shooting outside the Montgomery County Courthouse in Clarksville, Tennessee, on Wednesday, officials said.
Police responded at about 1:20 p.m. to a report of shots fired outside the courthouse, and deputies detained two people after what the sheriff’s office described as a “physical altercation that escalated to gunfire.” Both men were wounded and taken to separate hospitals, where they were listed as stable, according to authorities.
District Attorney General Robert Nash later identified one of the people involved as Eatherly. Authorities did not say what the confrontation involved in more detail, and they declined to answer questions about the second man.
A witness who said she saw the second man loaded into an ambulance described him as Black. Neither Nash nor the sheriff’s office provided additional information about what led to the confrontation, and it was not immediately clear whether Eatherly had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. The courthouse was closed on Thursday and online records were not updated. An attorney representing Eatherly in a separate case did not return a call seeking comment.
In an audio stream posted to social media shortly after the shooting, Eatherly said he shot a man in self-defense after the person started hitting him. In the clip, he speaks with paramedics, including one who discusses the entry and exit point of a bullet wound in his arm, and Eatherly asks, “Did I shoot myself or did it graze it?”
After leaving the hospital on Wednesday, Eatherly was taken to the Montgomery County jail. He was charged with attempted murder, employing a firearm during a dangerous felony, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. On Thursday, authorities did not update the other man’s condition, and a hospital spokesperson said medical privacy laws prevent sharing information about victims of violence.
The case is also intersecting with Eatherly’s online presence and recent interactions with local law enforcement. In an online fundraiser he posted for himself before the shooting, Eatherly complained that his contracting business struggles because people object to the videos he makes. In that fundraising effort, he said he makes “mild jokes” while also admitting he uses racial slurs and calling it “harmless humor,” and he addressed the fundraiser to “friends, supporters, and champions of free speech.”
While Eatherly has repeatedly referenced free speech in social media posts, David Raybin said what Eatherly does in those posts may violate Tennessee law. Raybin, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor who is an expert in the state’s criminal law, said that because Eatherly was known to openly carry a pistol while berating people, the combination could support an assault charge. He also said assault can be charged without physical contact if the conduct creates fear of imminent harm.
Raybin added that “fighting words” can constitute disorderly conduct under local Nashville ordinances, depending on how a situation is handled and prosecuted. He said that if prosecutors can show Eatherly provoked the other person, it would be difficult to establish self-defense.
Residents and court records also portray Eatherly as a familiar figure in the area around the courthouse. Claire Martin, who works in a law office across the street from the courthouse, said she saw the aftermath of the shooting and that Eatherly was well known for yelling racial slurs at Black people while filming them. She said he also did similar livestreaming in downtown Nashville, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) to the southeast.
Just the previous Saturday, Martin said, Eatherly was kicked out of a Nashville steakhouse after he refused to stop livestreaming from inside the restaurant. An affidavit filed by police said he began yelling, screaming, and “making racial statements” before leaving without paying a nearly $400 bill. He was arrested the following day and charged with theft of services, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest, and he was released on $5,000 bond.
Court records reviewed by the AP also showed that Eatherly had been scheduled to appear in Clarksville on the morning of the shooting over a $3,300 debt allegedly owed to a credit company, according to Montgomery County records. The civil case was filed in February by Midland Credit Management, and online records listed it as open, but the records did not indicate whether he attended a status hearing. The shooting occurred several hours later.
Eatherly was not listed in online court records as of Thursday afternoon, and if the case follows procedures in Montgomery County, he is expected to be arraigned on Friday, when a judge will decide bond.