Fielder Exploits Tragedy for Politics, and Possibly Profits
Published November 07, 2025
The Facts
On October 29th, a beloved neighborhood cat was tragically killed by a Waymo in the Mission District. The cat, KitKat, lived at Randa's Market, where it was a fixture for years. According to reports, the cat had walked under the vehicle when it was parked and waiting for passengers, and was not detected before the vehicle started moving.
On the heels of the tragedy, Supervisor Jackie Fielder held a press conference to rally against autonomous vehicles, aligning herself with the Teamsters union, which is self-interested in banning self-driving trucks to preserve its members' jobs. More troubling, she promoted the launch of "KitKatCoin," a cryptocurrency "memecoin" named after the cat, which critics have characterized as a presumed pump-and-dump scheme. Fielder has not disclosed whether she profits from this cryptocurrency venture. At least one ethics complaint has been filed against her, asking the ethics commission to investigate if Fielder has violated SF Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code section 3.212, 3.214, and 3.218 by promoting a cryptocurrency while holding public office.
The Context
Cryptocurrency memecoins are frequently pump-and-dump schemes where early promoters profit by driving up prices before selling their holdings, leaving later buyers with worthless tokens.
Adam Lashinsky at The Standard noted that human-driven vehicles kill significantly more animals annually than autonomous vehicles, making Fielder's focus on this single incident particularly cynical. Estimates range wildly, but some studies suggest that human drivers kill between 5 million and 26 million cats each year in the U.S.
The GrowSF Take
Fielder has weaponized a beloved pet's death to advance union political interests while potentially profiting from cryptocurrency speculation. This is San Francisco politics at its most cynical: performative outrage serving special interests rather than public safety.
The supervisor appears to be exploiting tragedy for both political theater and possible personal gain, while ignoring data showing autonomous vehicles are safer than human drivers. San Francisco deserves leaders who make evidence-based decisions, not ones who turn deaths into political stunts and cryptocurrency schemes.