SAN DIEGO — For the first time at FBI San Diego, the bureau’s top cop or special agent in charge is of Asian American descent.
SAC Stacey Moy, who grew up in San Diego, spoke to FOX 5 about how he navigated his APPI heritage and rose to one of the bureau’s highest ranks.
Moy was instrumental in the takedown of one of the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and led high-profile Operations like Mic Drop and Trojan Shield — operations that could inspire the next action movie.
But Moy had humble beginnings as a kid from Solana Beach, a third generation Chinese American whose father worked for the Navy.
“As a Chinese American, I knew there were not too many of folks that looked similar to me,” says Moy.
Moy graduated from Torrey Pines High School and was faced with his own challenges with finding where he belonged.
“For me, growing up in Southern California, I was less interested in doing the traditional Asian-related things like learning a musical instrument, or doing Chinese-language school, which was super naïve as a kid. And now I look back at it as being naïve but at the time, I wanted to assimilate to be someone that was seen as American at first,” Moy said.
He found his fit in the U.S. Navy, graduating from the Naval Academy in 1998. He was commissioned and served as an officer in the Surface Warfare and Naval Special Warfare communities.
“What motivated me to go to the Naval Academy, to go to the military and also serve in some of the hardest, most grueling communities to include the FBI and the SWAT team, etc., was because maybe there was some chip on my shoulder,” Moy said. “Maybe I’m not good enough. How do I prove my worth? How do I prove to others I belong?”
He then joined the FBI as a special agent in 2004 and served on the SWAT team. He was promoted to top leadership…
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