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Fifth Column
Head of the California National Guard is accused of deploying a spy plane to monitor a small protest in the affluent suburb where he lives - as he says he can't recall if he authorized it
2020-10-19
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • Major General David S. Baldwin, lives in El Dorado Hills, near Sacramento

  • During protests this summer El Dorado Hills was one of four sites spied upon

  • Spy planes were also sent above Minneapolis, Washington DC, Phoenix that drew hundreds or thousands of protesters and were marred by violence

  • Questions are being asked as to why the peaceful suburb was on the list

  • Baldwin told LA Times his living there had 'nothing to do' with the surveillance

  • Gavin Newsom, governor of California, said the plane's use was 'concerning'

  • Their usage has been controversial and raised questions about spying on peaceful protesters
Posted by:Skidmark

#5  If there was a "protest" in my neighborhood, I'd be running surveillance on it as well.
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2020-10-19 21:46  

#4  Thank you all for adding your personal knowledge of the situation. It did seem an odd thing to fuss about so much later.
Posted by: trailing wife   2020-10-19 21:23  

#3  These leftist militias are doing the midnight or 4am visit to the suburbs and homes. This is gestapo terrorism
Posted by: Vespasian Ebbereng3110   2020-10-19 13:31  

#2  To NMBS's point, there were many disturbances in Sacramento and in neighboring El Dorado CA throughout the summer. The SacBee reported that the National Guard was called out to protect El Dorado as early as June 1.

Gavin Newsom is a liar. There's nothing new let alone "concerning" about these simple well-known facts.
Posted by: Javith Trotsky5982   2020-10-19 13:26  

#1  Dave Baldwin worked for me as a Major, and i worked extensively with the CalGuard during my post military career in Homeland Security while he was the Adjutant General. Aspects of this are a hit piece and the events around the demonstration by BLM in El Dorado Hills are very intimate to me since i lived there for 27 years before moving to lovely Minden/Gardnerville NV. The request for air support by the El Dorado Country Sheriff to give situational awareness was a legal Military Support to Civil Authority mission though the standard channel via the CA Office of Emergency Services
EDSO is a small department (roughly 100 sworn) and where I served as a volunteer after my retirement 2013-2018. The context of the request was in he August period of widespread civil disorder by BLM/Antifa and the specific event in El Dorado Hills was a street walk of this high end suburban neighborhood by BLM making a very visible trek down the street of residents carrying signs and bullhorns. Given the flashpoints across the country, the MSCA request was reasonable and since it came through official channels via OES and was legal as the article admits the IG judged the Air Guard tasking was both legal and reasonable. MG Baldwin would not even have been in the direct approval chain for an OES tasking. This is pure LATimes hit piece and suggests a woke Air Guard source with issues at the tasking.
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2020-10-19 12:43  

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