Matt Forney@mattforney
Everyone getting mad at me for not leaping to Chud the Builder's defense is a moron who doesn't understand the is-ought distinction. Let me walk you through this using baby language.
Chud will be charged with attempted voluntary manslaughter under Tennessee § 39-13-211. This is a class C felony punishable with 3-15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He WILL be charged. No DA wants to establish the precedent that IRL streamers can cause public disturbances, shoot people, and walk. Even if the DA is sympathetic to Chud, he will be under immense public pressure to charge him.
There is a very good chance the case never goes to trial. The vast majority of criminal cases end in plea deals, not jury trials. If there is even a whiff of a chance Chud could be acquitted by a jury, the DA will amp up the pressure to make him accept a plea deal. DAs love plea deals because they allow them to goose conviction rates and because jury trials are expensive and time-consuming.
There are any number of means by which the DA can twist Chud's arm into accepting a shitty plea deal. The most obvious one is throwing him in county lockup and waiting out the clock until the day before the right to a speedy trial expires. DAs do this FREQUENTLY; a friend of mine who shot a black guy in self-defense was held in jail for YEARS because he refused to plea out and insisted on going to trial. Does Chud have the wherewithal to stick it out in jail for that long? He will either be sharing a cell block with black criminals who will be beating the shit out of "the n-word cracka" every day or he will be put in solitary for his own safety. Solitary confinement is so damaging to inmates that it shows up on brain scans.
Chud is very unlikely to get bail because based on his antics as a streamer, the nature of his offense, public pressure, and his prior arrest history, the judge will deem him a flight risk and a threat to public order. If he does get bail, it will be insanely high (bail for class C felonies can be set as high as $250,000) and he will be barred from leaving the state. If he goes back to streaming like he normally does, it will almost certainly end in another incident that sends him right back to jail.
Let's assume Chud goes to trial. The pressure to convict will be high. I can foresee the prosecutor arguing that Chud shouting the n-word at black people constitutes "fighting words" (a doctrine in both Tennessee and federal law, see Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire) and thus the black guy who attacked him should be let off. His history as an IRL streamer who intentionally creates public scenes will be used by the prosecution. His defense team will surely argue self-defense, which they should, but can that overcome the public pressure to convict a racist anti-Semitic groyper who makes videos harassing black people? He's in a terrible situation.
And for anyone comparing Chud to Kyle Rittenhouse, you're wrong for these reasons:
1) Rittenhouse was not seeking conflict. Chud's entire career is about starting shit.
2) Rittenhouse was inherently sympathetic as a clean-cut white kid. Chud is a racist anti-Semitic groyper with a chomostache.
3) Rittenhouse's "victims" were white. Chud shot a black guy.
Should Chud be found guilty at trial, his past history of arrests and disruptive behavior will likely result in the judge giving him a harsh sentence. There will also be, again, immense public pressure to throw the book at him.
If you come at me with something like "oh you think it's OKAY for black people to assault white people", you missed the point entirely and are too retarded for this discussion. Chud might be justified in defending himself. He might not deserve to go to prison. But as Clint Eastwood said, deserve's got nothing to do with it. The justice system has every incentive to bring the hammer down on him, which is why he's a retard for putting himself in this situation.