by

Todd R. Hansen

Daily Republic

February 25, 2025 Updated February 25, 2025

FAIRFIELD — A concerned parent has accused Mayor Catherine Moy of endangering students at Vanden High School by "spreading misinformation" and linking them to protesters who have repeatedly demonstrated at Travis Air Force Base.

She calls on the Travis Unified School District to take legal action against Moy.

"Considering the current uptick in violent attacks on protesters, the current political climate, and the division in our community concerning world issues, this mayor's comments have endangered the lives of an entire high school, putting a target on the backs of teenagers for those psychopaths out there who would look to harm those whose opinions differ from their own," Maria Figueroa wrote in an email to the Daily Republic and other media. Moy dismisses the comments, saying she got involved after the city received a letter from the American Jewish Committee, which was concerned with what it believed were "anti-Semitic" comments by the student group that calls itself Vikings for Humanity. Moy said she will "not tolerate hate" coming from any group, whether anti-Palestinian or anti-Israeli. Figueroa, who has been active in efforts to pressure the city to get the Markelely Lane project completed, and had an unsuccessful run at a seat on the Travis Unified School District board in the 2022 election, said she was not directly involved in the controversy. She said she was contacted by community members who were afraid to speak up and were asking for her advice about what could be done. So she sent material and her own comments to various media and press outlets. The protest groups were back at Travis AFB on Sunday and Monday. They want Travis and the U.S. military to stop their involvement in the Israel-Gaza conflict, which they describe as the genocide of the Palestinians who live there. "Catherine Moy, the 'leader' of Fairfield went on social media to place blame and point fingers at a high school and its students while this community is already torn apart by these protests. She purposefully and unapologetically placed the lives of students in danger and made them targets for the ignorant people out there who just want to hurt others. She places blame of adults' actions on kids," Figueroa stated. Again, Moy rejected the notion that she is putting anyone in danger, and wondered why parents are not more concerned with the students' "hate comments" and activities that put themselves in danger.