A Tennessee judge set $1 million bond for a white livestreamer charged with attempted murder after a May 13 shooting outside the Montgomery County Courthouse in Clarksville. The case is now driving a wider argument over whether “free speech” online can shield
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — On May 13, outside the Montgomery County Courthouse in Clarksville, a verbal altercation spilled into violence. Days later. the livestreamer at the center of the case. Dalton Eatherly. was arrested and charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting and wounding Joshua Fox.
On Thursday, in court in Clarksville, Judge H. Reid Poland III set Eatherly’s bond at $1 million. Poland also ordered that attendees at the hearing not use electronic devices and not interfere in any way with the proceedings. Several people were removed from the courtroom, including conservative activist Jake Lang, who was led out in handcuffs.
Eatherly livestreams under the name “Chud the Builder.” Two days after his arrest. his attorney. Jacob Fendley. declined to comment on the charges when reached by phone. But Fendley asked people to stop harassing him and his staff. adding that even though he is defending Eatherly. he finds the livestreamer’s online content objectionable.
The response to Eatherly’s arrest has been fast and fiercely organized online. In a single day after his livestreaming presence brought the case to a wider audience, Eatherly raised more than $100,000 for his legal defense on a fundraising site.
The case has also drawn comparisons to another incident from a year ago: a white Minnesota woman was captured on cellphone video admitting to calling a child a racist slur. She later amassed more than $800,000 on a crowdfunding site and pointed to her First Amendment rights.
That familiar script—speech framed as protected and outrage framed as censorship—has now collided with the concrete reality of a violent charge in Tennessee.
In the criminal complaint, Eatherly, 28, and Fox initially were involved in a verbal altercation. The complaint says Eatherly reached for a gun inside his right jacket pocket, and the two men started to fight. Fox was shot multiple times and later underwent emergency surgery at a hospital.
The complaint also describes an audio stream that Eatherly apparently recorded just after the shooting and later posted online. In that stream, Eatherly said he fired in self-defense.
Eatherly has defended his videos on a crowdsourcing site as “mild jokes, unfiltered thoughts.” He has also defended using a racial slur as “edgy, harmless humor.” In one of his writings, Eatherly said, “I know it’s controversial, but it’s my right to speak freely.”
But legal experts say the line between speech and crime is not automatic.
David Raybin, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, said that even if Eatherly repeatedly references free speech, his conduct could fall under Tennessee law. Because Eatherly was known to openly carry a pistol while berating people, Raybin said the combination could constitute assault.
“You don’t have to touch someone,” Raybin said, explaining that assault can be charged if you “create fear of imminent harm.”
Civil rights advocates say the issue goes beyond court charges and into the danger created by livestreaming hate in real time—especially when the audience is larger than the people being targeted.
Brandon Tucker, senior director of government affairs for Color of Change, described “race-baiting” content as creating immediate risk for Black bystanders. Tucker pointed to what he called a “power imbalance,” in which a livestreamer who is attracting an audience can push others into a corner.
“The same free speech that this individual wants to advocate for doesn’t recognize the chilling of my response to know that I cannot react in any reasonable way because my face. my safety. my family’s safety is in jeopardy and being broadcast to an audience that most likely aligns with this person’s views. ” Tucker said.
Tucker also argued that platforms cannot claim neutrality if they are financially rewarding users for using racist language to agitate.
Other livestreamers, even those who understand how online attention works, say Eatherly’s approach crosses a boundary.
James Champion, a 41-year-old Los Angeles-based livestreamer and content creator who goes by the preferred online moniker SendaRoni Sloscru, said when livestreaming turns into terrorizing and hate speech, “that’s when the line gets drawn.”
“When you get to terrorizing and doing all this hate speech. that’s when the line gets drawn. especially when nobody is bothering you. ” Champion said. “Whatever platform is allowing him to get away with that is basically race-baiting. and I just think in this day and time you got people who are going to laugh at it or people who will beat you to death about it.”.
Eatherly was streaming on Pump.fun, a platform where users create and trade cryptocurrency tokens. Token creators have used the livestream feature to gain notice in some outrageous ways. including by performing dangerous stunts and threatening violence. In November 2024. Pump.fun paused the feature because people were violating its terms of service by uploading abusive. obscene or dishonest messages.
Kate Ruane, director of the free expression program at the Center for Democracy and Technology, said it was not clear what had been done to improve the situation before livestreaming was reinstated.
“It’s not clear what was done to improve that situation before it was reinstated,” Ruane said. “If you’re relying on users to report and none of the users that are viewing these livestreams disagree or have a problem with what they’re seeing. you might not be getting the user reports that you should.”.
Representatives for Pump.fun did not respond to a Wednesday email seeking comment.
Brandon Golob. a criminology. law and society professor at the University of California. Irvine. said the number of livestreaming platforms has grown. but self-regulation can still feel like a “Wild West.” He also said the First Amendment is not a blanket shield from laws against harassment. hate crimes and provocation.
“The reality is that when it involves two private individuals, state law is going to govern,” Golob said. “We just want to make sure that we’re not conflating government responsibility or government censorship with private accountability.”
SendaRoni said he has been livestreaming for a few years and has “tens of thousands” of followers across a number of social media platforms. He described his own content as focused on social issues and trending events. and he said many livestreamers addressed Eatherly’s actions after the shooting in Clarksville.
“I think he tried to find people he’d get a reaction out of,” SendaRoni said. “When you do things such as that the end results are not going to be exciting. You’re acting like no one has a reason not to be disgusted and you made a mockery of yourself.”
He did not frame the debate only as a matter of online speech—he framed it as a matter of what viewers and bystanders are forced to live with.
Leading livestream platforms such as YouTube and Twitch do have an infrastructure for content moderation. including community guidelines barring hate speech and slurs. They use automated detection and user reports. Both Golob and Ruane advised people to know their rights when handling livestreamers who make them uncomfortable.
Ruane said it is OK “to film them right back.”
“Make sure that you’re sharing a different version of the story because whatever First Amendment rights they might be exercising, you have them too,” Ruane said. “Make sure that is being published at the same time and that can serve as a form of pushback in and of itself.”
The legal process in Clarksville is now underway with Eatherly’s bond set and a courtroom order limiting disruption. But the argument swirling around the case—what counts as protected expression. what counts as a threat. and who gets harmed when hate is turned into entertainment—has spread far beyond the courthouse steps.
This story was updated to correct that the shooting happened May 13.
Tang reported from Phoenix and Williams from Detroit. Associated Press reporter Travis Loller in Nashville contributed to this story.
Clarksville Tennessee Dalton Eatherly Chud the Builder Joshua Fox attempted murder free speech hate speech livestreaming Pump.fun Color of Change First Amendment bond Judge H. Reid Poland III