Maybe Karma does exist, after all. At least, that’s the thought I had after seeing the face of the racist streamer Dalton Levi Eatherly, aka “Chud the Builder,” sink in court on May 15 after a judge set his bond at $1.25 million, meaning he’s sitting in jail right now as he faces attempted murder charges.
Here’s the context.
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This guy, “Chud the Builder,” got big for livestreaming himself in public and going up to random black people and calling them the N-word. Seriously.
He’s what’s called a “nuisance streamer.” He has no talent or value of any kind other than intentionally going up to strangers and racially abusing them and hoping to provoke a reaction, which he then calls “chimping out.” That is the basis on which he has built himself a following and made a living.
In the least surprising twist ever, he recently allegedly crossed into criminal behavior.
On May 9, he was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and theft after allegedly livestreaming himself belligerently entering a restaurant, using racial slurs, and walking out on a $370 bill.
Then, after being released on bail over these charges, he got into an altercation with a black man outside a courthouse just days later, ultimately firing his gun and later being charged with attempted murder. According to local reporting, “Chud” escalated the verbal conflict by reaching for his firearm, after which a physical fight ensued.
He’s now claiming self-defense and has set up a “GiveSendGo” fundraiser claiming that he’s somehow fighting for “free speech.” He has his supporters — mostly anonymous donors have contributed a total of $270,000 and counting, usually referencing “white solidarity.”
Some influencers have gone on the record in support of “Chud,” like the self-described right-wing, Christian commentator Payton Kelly.
“We have to support our people and our right to defend ourselves,” Kelly said in a widely shared social media video. “$1.25 million bond is literally a targeted attack and a threat against all of us. They’re blatantly stating that if you use your freedom of speech in the ‘wrong’ way, your life and your rights will be taken from you!”
“We have to support our people,” meaning white people, I guess?
Yeah… no. I don’t feel “solidarity” with people because we share a skin color. That’s creepy and sounds like the same kind of racial identity politics we usually see coming from progressives. And while “Chud” will have the chance to make his case in court, it’s not legally or morally justifiable self-defense if he both antagonized and escalated the situation. (That hasn’t stopped some trollish commentators from comparing him to Rosa Parks!)
His digital footprint may seriously hurt him here. In a since-deleted tweet earlier this month, Eatherly wrote, “Series finale is dead chimp on the pavement and you monkeys rioting when I walk free.” Does that sound like someone who truly only used self-defense as a last resort to you?
Of course, everyone, even vile figures like Eatherly, deserves due process and their day in court. But the bigger question here isn’t about the specifics of his legal case at all. It’s deeper than that.
This blatantly racist streamer, whose sole “talent” is antagonizing people in public and instigating social conflict, has tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of genuine fans. Hard-working people all across America actually opened up their wallets to fundraise more than $270,000 for him.
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That is a sign that something has gone very, very awry.
“Chud the Builder” is just one example of a broader trend of “ragebait” content creators and other poisonous influencers rising to the top of the online ecosystem. Yet only a truly sick culture valorizes this kind of behavior and rewards it. Hopefully, no one will have to actually get killed for the masses to wake up and realize that people like this should be shunned — not supported.
Brad Polumbo is an independent journalist and YouTuber.