By Vanguard Staff
SACRAMENTO, CA – Maj. Gen. David Baldwin—the California National Guard commander linked to several actions aimed at discouraging demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd—has resigned.
According to a Los Angeles Times investigation last month, Baldwin quit after a series of embarrassing episodes, including allegations of racism, anti-Semitism and homophobia.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office issued a statement noting the general “for his steadfast leadership and nearly four decades of committed service to our state and nation.”
But, in 2020, Newsom criticized the Guard’s decision to send a military reconnaissance plane to El Dorado Hills, where Baldwin lived, to help local law enforcement monitor anti-police brutality protests, according to a report in the LA Times.
And Baldwin fired or suspended several top-ranking officers in 2021 after a news report that the Guard had plans to fly a fighter jet low over the heads of civilian protestors to scare them.
According to the LA Times, the “20,000-member Guard, a branch of the California Military Department, which the adjutant general also leads, serves a dual mission that includes responding to emergencies in the state, such as earthquakes, wildfires and civil disturbances, and assisting U.S. armed forces in military operations overseas.”
The Times also reported “an internal inquiry substantiated allegations that Brig. Gen. David Hawkins made anti-Semitic and homophobic slurs, including that Jews are unrepentant sinners and that “gay marriage is a reason terrorists attack the United States.”
Hawkins received only a letter of reprimand but later resigned, saying “those allegations are largely untrue,” and he specifically denied making the statement about terrorist attacks.
The Times also listed the following allegations in recent years:
“A captain allegedly referred to a Latino sergeant as a ‘lazy Mexican’ and harassed an African American soldier because he was a ‘Black Lives Matter guy.’ Another captain has been accused of asking a Jewish soldier if cigar ashes were his ‘relatives.’”
“A wing commander for the air side of the Guard faces complaints that she used a military credit card to buy cleaning supplies for her dog and had underlings walk the pet at work.”
“The vice wing commander at the same air station was grounded because of a drunk driving arrest.” 
