Lawyer explains attempted murder case against ‘Chud the Builder’

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]A social media personality known as Chud the Builder finds himself in hot water testing the limits of our rights. In this week's Ask Isaac, Lori Tucker takes questions about the case to legal analyst Greg Isaacs.

[00:00:14]Greg, thank you for joining us. Lori, it's good to be here.

[00:00:17]>> We are in the newsroom. It looks a little different right now. This is normally where we do our live stream every Wednesday at 1:30, and we decided to keep it in here for this segment because it's pretty appropriate when we're talking about a guy who is known as quite the provocateur on his live streams on X, and that is Chud the Builder.

[00:00:37]Uh he is known as a rage baiter. Let's talk more about what he has done in the past and the trouble that he is in right now when it comes to attempted murder charges.

[00:00:48]Well, Chud the Builder has a significant following on X, and he's a rage baiter.

[00:00:54]What he does is he'll approach pedestrians, uh use very salacious language, typically with a racial overturn overtone, and then try to get a reaction.

[00:01:05]Um Chud the Builder, aka Dalton Etherly, uh took that little act outside the Montgomery County Courthouse uh in Clarksville, Tennessee.

[00:01:16]>> Just a few weeks ago. Just a few weeks ago, and he encountered an African-American individual that was a military veteran.

[00:01:23]Um they were engaging in some words. Uh the warrants say that uh Etherly took a bladed stance, kind of like this, um removed a firearm from his jacket pocket, uh and began to fire, uh injuring uh the other individual, and also shooting himself in the arm. And he's charged with some serious criminal offenses, Lori.

[00:01:46]>> Let's go down that list. First, as I mentioned earlier, is attempted murder.

[00:01:51]Also, we have aggravated assault, employment of a firearm during a a felony, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, and his bond is set at $1.25 million. Why such a high bond?

[00:02:03]Well, because, you know, one of the main factors in in a bond is to reasonably assure someone's appearance, but also to ensure the safety of the community. And one thing that the judge focused in on was that all the people in that courtyard area There were several bystanders. bystanders were placed in danger by this reckless conduct, but serious charges, attempted homicide, 15 to 25 years, aggravated assault, 3 to 6 years, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, 1 to 2 years, employment of a firearm, another offense that is going to be stacked on top. But here's what's going to be interesting as this case plays out in the Montgomery County Courthouse. So, if you are the prosecution, you are going to try to establish Netherly's intent, his mens rea, and you want to open up his livestream. Prior bad acts, 404B evidence, we talk about it all the time. And the defense is going to try to block that.

[00:03:03]>> "Not so fast. [clears throat] We're going to rely on self-defense because we were defending ourselves during the middle of this altercation on the courthouse steps.

[00:03:11]But, you know, it'll be interesting because they'll want that salacious content in to prove Netherly's mens rea and state of mind." A constitutional battle, First Amendment versus the right to a fair trial.

[00:03:23]>> All right, he's in court tomorrow. We'll be watching.

[00:03:26]And if you have a legal question, you can send it to Ask Isaacs at wate.com.

[00:03:31]Remember, we talk with Greg every Wednesday at 5:30 right here on Channel 6. For a deeper conversation, you can watch right now on our free WATE 6 Plus app.