Dalton Eatherly is charged with shooting Joshua Fox on May 13 outside the Montgomery County Courthouse in Clarksville.
Updated with additional details.
CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Detectives investigating the May 13 shooting outside the Montgomery County Courts Center detailed some of their findings during a bond hearing on Thursday, including the recovery of a bulletproof vest and an airline ticket to Istanbul, Turkey.
Dalton Levi Eatherly, 28, is charged with shooting Joshua Fox in Millennium Plaza that Wednesday afternoon, when several other people were milling around the plaza outside the courthouse. He is charged with attempted murder, employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, according to his arrest warrant.
At an initial hearing on May 15, Eatherly’s bond was set at $1.25 million. On Thursday, Judge H. Reid Poland III reset bond at $1 million, citing state law requiring that amount.
Surveillance cameras documented shooting
During Thursday’s hearing, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office investigators testified that video surveillance cameras documented the confrontation. At about 1:15 p.m., Eatherly approached Fox, who was at court that day for a child support hearing. Eatherly had a selfie stick in his right hand.
After the verbal altercation, Eatherly walked away. Fox then approached him. According to the arrest warrant obtained by Clarksville Now, which was reiterated by investigators on Thursday, Eatherly then “turned his body in a bladed stance” and reached for a firearm in his jacket pocket. “Thereafter, a physical altercation ensued,” said the warrant.
Lead investigator Michael Webber testified that Eatherly can be seen “trying to pull his gun out of his jacket pocket,” and that Eatherly later claimed he was reaching for Mace he normally carries. Webber said the footage shows a firearm being drawn, not Mace pepper spray, and that Eatherly told investigators his Mace had been confiscated during a prior arrest in Nashville. The footage has no audio, and Webber said he could not determine what was said during the argument.
Attorney Jake Fendley, representing Eatherly, suggested that Eatherly was placed in a headlock during the struggle, but Webber said, “I could not see that in the video.”
Webber also testified that once the fight began, Fox took Eatherly to the ground and that a bullet could be seen ricocheting as they fell. Seven shell casings were recovered at the scene, all seven from the same gun.
Fox was shot in the torso and arm. A responding paramedic testified that Fox was alert when she reached him. She said she saw no exit wounds and suspected internal bleeding because his blood pressure was dropping. Fox, who is a Clarksville veteran, was not in court Thursday.
Eatherly also suffered a gunshot wound, apparently shooting himself in the arm.
Searches reveal weapons, bulletproof vest, social media posts
Investigators searched Eatherly’s truck and his home. They found an airline ticket to Istanbul, dated for a May 22 departure. They also found a bulletproof vest, a rifle, a shotgun, ammunition and a suspected bag of marijuana. They also recovered Eatherly’s electronic devices for evidence. Webber noted that no Mace was found at the scene, in the truck or his home.
A mobile forensics investigator showed the court “inflammatory racial videos” and social media posts made in the weeks leading up to the shooting. One highlighted a post from early May that stated Eatherly would use lethal force to defend himself and walk away free.
Body camera footage from the day of the shooting was also played. In it, Eatherly told an officer, “He hit me, started wailing on me and I had to defend myself.” The officer noted that Eatherly did not mention any threats at that time.
Bond conditions: Gag order, no guns, GPS monitor
During the hearing, two people were escorted out of the courtroom for disrupting proceedings, and one person was charged with contempt of court.
Eatherly’s stepfather and his brother testified that Eatherly had lived in Clarksville his whole life and had family in the area. He owns a business, DLE Contracting, has no prior convictions, and he would be reliable to appear in court, they said.
District Attorney General Robert Nash argued that Eatherly’s videos are created for provocation and profit, and that public safety – not just flight risk – should guide the bond decision. Nash requested a GPS monitor, no access to weapons and a gag order if Eatherly is released.
“We have an unarmed man who was shot and an armed man whose whole life is to provoke that man who was shot – or a man just like him,” Nash said.
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Fendley argued Eatherly should retain access to firearms because he is a public figure and a target. He also said the Istanbul ticket included a return flight and did not indicate an attempt to flee. “Mr. Eatherly has already been tried in the court of public opinion,” Fendley said, adding that Eatherly should be allowed to defend himself publicly. He argued Eatherly acted of fear of “serious bodily harm or death.”
Judge Poland reset bond at $1 million. He explained that according to state law, if a defendant is out on bond on other charges, the bond for the new charges must be at least two times the customary amount. Eatherly was out on bond from an arrest in Nashville when the shooting took place.
Poland said that if Eatherly makes bond, he will have to wear a GPS monitor, must relinquish all weapons and firearms, and will be under a gag order with no interviews or social media activity about the incident. The gag order also applies to all witnesses in the case. Poland also said the passport application process would be stopped, and rescinded if it has been issued.
The judge also said that no money raised through crowdfunding after May 13 could be used toward the bond. He said a Circuit Court judge will take that matter up in a sourcing hearing.
At the close of the hearing, Eatherly was escorted back to Montgomery County Jail, with no bond yet posted.
A preliminary hearing is set for May 26, at 9 a.m., at the Montgomery County Courts Center.
Who is Dalton Eatherly?
Eatherly, known online as “Chud the Builder,” has gained notoriety for filming himself using racial slurs toward Black residents in an attempt to provoke confrontations. He has posted statements on social media referencing lethal force and violent rhetoric, according to previous reports.
He has recent arrests in both Montgomery and Davidson counties, including a harassment case bound over to the grand jury in April and charges earlier this month in Nashville for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and theft.
Eatherly was scheduled to appear in General Sessions Court on Wednesday for an unrelated civil case when the shooting occurred.
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