CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — More than $300,000 has poured in through donations for Dalton Eatherly since his May 13 arrest — but it’s far from the only time "Chud the Builder" has turned controversy into cash.
Eatherly began posting clips of his live streams on the streaming platform "Pump.fun" earlier that month while promoting his Chud the Builder meme coin. The site lets anyone create coins and use real money to trade.
Virtually every video where Eatherly is seen calling Black people the N-word or claiming they are "chimping out" has his Pump.fun handle at the bottom. The more attention he got, the more likely it was for people to visit the site and invest. At least, that's the goal.
"Creator rewards are paying my bills. They're funding the movement," Eatherly said in one clip.
Eatherly, who claims everything he's done is in the name of advocating for free speech, also admitted he makes money with every controversial clip.
The term "clippers" refers to those who create clips from what are often hours-long live streams for the purpose of finding the most viral moments they can monetize.
Courtney Werning, an attorney and partner at Meyer, Wilson and Werning, has studied this version of the crypto economy, where she says it's more about building community.
"The people who are investing in this get a dopamine hit of watching a number go up," Werning said.
Eatherly owned about 3% of his coin, which at its peak hit a market cap of just over $4 million. That peak came on the last video Eatherly posted.
In the video titled "Chimpin," Eatherly tells first responders he got into an argument with a Black man named Joshua Fox outside the Montgomery County Courthouse and eventually opened fire.
"He said, 'You start saying all that 'chimp out' s--t to me, I'm going to hit you.' He hit me. Started wailing on me. Even after I had to defend myself by shooting him," Eatherly said.
One minute later, Eatherly suggested this is the type of thing people would pay to see.
"Rich people are saying, you'll get rich if you hit this guy. They're all publicly saying, if ya assault this guy, we'll make you rich. What the f--k," Eatherly said.
Fox was taken by helicopter to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he underwent lifesaving surgery. Eatherly was treated for accidentally shooting himself in the arm.
Eatherly now sits in jail on $1 million bond pending trial and faces more than 60 years in prison for attempted murder. His meme coin plunged by millions just days later.
"If you can't afford to set your money on fire and laugh about it, then you should not be putting it into a coin like this, because functionally that's basically the same thing," Werning said.
Eatherly may have made money before the shooting, but soon donations surged someplace else.
Eatherly also raised more than $300,000 through a GiveSendGo account, where comments left on almost every donation were more racist than the last. The post states Eatherly lost everything after arrests in both Nashville and Clarksville, and that he planned to use the money to get back on his feet and consider legal options.
I later discovered GiveSendGo policy only allows those charged with serious crimes like attempted murder to use crowdsourced money on their legal defense. Emails and calls to GiveSendGo went unanswered, but an update was later posted stating the money would go into a trust in accordance with GiveSendGo policy.
The courts have made it clear that Eatherly cannot use crowdsourced money to post bond because there is often no way of knowing where the money is coming from.
Montgomery County Judge Bill Goodman has since capped the amount each bond company can put up as collateral at no more than $100,000, meaning Eatherly would need 10 bondsmen to cover his $1 million bond. Eatherly's attorney has argued that fewer than a handful of bond companies are willing to attach themselves to the case.
Eatherly was in court Wednesday when Davidson County Judge Melissa Blackburn revoked his bond on unrelated charges out of Nashville. Eatherly was out on bond at the time of the shooting, having been arrested in Nashville days earlier after Metro Nashville Police say he walked out on a restaurant tab.
Blackburn said her decision was based on "what I've seen on social media and Mr. Eatherly's behavior."
With his bond revoked, Eatherly will likely return to jail even if he is bonded out in Clarksville. His bond conditions included wearing a GPS monitor, having no access to firearms and complying with a gag order limiting his social media use — meaning no rants or interviews about what happened.
It's not clear what happens to his Pump.fun page or other sites, but whatever Eatherly does next, there appears to be an audience ready to listen and, potentially, pay.
