Controversial livestreamer Dalton Eatherly, known online as ChudTheBuilder, has been released from a Tennessee jail after nearly three months behind bars. The 28-year-old posted a $1 million bond in Montgomery County and a separate $15,000 bond in Davidson County around Aug. 10, according to court records.
Eatherly remains under some of the strictest conditions short of continued incarceration. He is confined to full house arrest at his Montgomery County residence, fitted with a GPS ankle monitor, barred from possessing any weapons, prohibited from entering Nashville except for scheduled court appearances, and subject to two gag orders that sharply restrict public comments about either case.
His legal troubles began May 9 in downtown Nashville. Eatherly visited Bob’s Steak and Chop inside the Omni Hotel, ordered roughly $372 in food and drinks, and began livestreaming. Staff asked him to stop filming. An arrest affidavit states he became disruptive, made racial statements, yelled and refused to leave or pay the bill. Police located him on Broadway, where he pulled his arm away while being handcuffed. He was charged with theft of services under $1,000, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, and initially released on a combined $5,000 bond.
Four days later, on May 13, a confrontation outside the Montgomery County Courthouse in Clarksville escalated into gunfire. Another man was shot multiple times and required emergency surgery; Eatherly was also injured. Authorities charged him with attempted murder, employing a firearm during a dangerous felony, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. Eatherly has maintained he acted in self-defense. Bond was set at $1 million, with a judge imposing GPS monitoring, a firearms ban, a gag order and a nightly curfew.
While still in custody on the Clarksville charges, Eatherly’s Nashville bond was revoked in June after a judge cited his social media activity and the new violent allegations. On Aug. 6, a Davidson County judge reset the Nashville bond at $15,000 total and added stricter conditions, including continuous house arrest, a passport ban and a prohibition on publicly discussing the restaurant case’s facts, evidence, witnesses or his guilt or innocence via posts, streams or interviews.
Because he is free on both bonds, the most restrictive rules from each court apply. The full house-arrest order from Nashville supersedes the earlier Clarksville curfew, while the two gag orders together limit most public commentary about either incident. Nashville prosecutors have indicated they can seek to revoke his release if he faces any new charges while the cases remain pending.
Eatherly built an online following as an aggressive IRL streamer known for confrontational, racially charged content filmed in public spaces, particularly around Nashville’s Broadway. Judges repeatedly referenced his livestreams and posts during bond hearings. Both cases have been bound over to grand juries and remain unresolved.
For now, Eatherly is confined to his residence, electronically monitored, disarmed, barred from Nashville and largely restricted from discussing the incidents that led to his detention. Any violation of the bond conditions could return him to jail as the legal process continues.
