Clarksville City Councilman questions Dalton Eatherly’s high bond

Ward 7 Clarksville City Councilman Travis Holleman speaks out defending Dalton Eatherly’s first amendment rights. SUBMITTED During the Mayor and Council Member Comments section of the Clarksville City Council’s June 4 meeting, Councilman Travis Holleman used his speaking time to question the high bond of Dalton “Chud the Builder” Eatherly. Eatherly, who is white, is being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a bond of $1 million for attempted murder, charged with shooting a black man following a confrontation last month. Initially, Holleman, who is white, began speaking of his fear the white race is being “exterminated.” He spoke about “white countries” being invaded by immigrants. “Our numbers are going down and we are being exterminated,” Holleman said. He gave examples worldwide of people who were white being violently killed, including some murders in the United States like the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk who was assassinated. He also discussed the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska, the Ukrainian young woman killed on a light rail train in North Carolina last year. “We need to bring awareness to it,” Holleman said. “It doesn’t mean you hate anybody else, but the fact of the matter is, I don’t want my race to be exterminated.” In the Clarksville shooting incident last month, Eatherly used words, though “distasteful,” should have been protected by free speech, according to Holleman. “According to our society, which supposedly has free speech, those were forbidden words, and he got attacked.” On Wednesday, May 13, according to court records, Eatherly and Joshua Fox became engaged in a verbal altercation prior to Fox being shot. Holleman said Eatherly’s high bond is an “anti-white attack against this man,” though he claimed he was not promoting what Eatherly did or said on the day of the shooting. Mayor, councilmen respond A few council members had left the room by the time Holleman’s comments ended, but some who remained offered a response. Veteran Councilman Eric Claunch said Clarksville is a melting pot of different kinds of people. “I served my country for 20 years and 24 days,” Claunch said. “There was no color, but blood red if somebody was injured. Other than that, we were arm-in-arm in a fox hole, fighting for a common goal.” Claunch said he appreciates the liberty to speak one’s mind, but he would not want the community painted as a horrible thing. “I love all people and if we all took a step back, took a breath, with a little bit of grace, we could get wonderful things done,” Claunch said. Councilman Joe Shakeenab recommended Councilman Holleman should begin having children. “You’re worried about the white race decreasing,” Shakeenab said. “You need to have some kids, and you need to step up and do your part.” Shakeenab also said he feels Eatherly’s $1 million bond should have been set at $2 million. “I don’t think anyone has the right to harass people and instigate people,” Shakeenab said. “A confrontation happened because of that. Two wrongs don’t make it right.” Mayor Joe Pitts ended the comments, and the meeting, quoting from Scripture. “My Bible says in Galatians 3:28, ‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor male and female, for we are all one…’. I’ll entertain a motion to adjourn. Without objection, we’re done.”