A candlelight vigil is planned for Tuesday evening in San Francisco's Chinatown to mourn the death of 40-year-old Michelle Go, a native of the East Bay who was killed Saturday when she was pushed in front of an oncoming subway train in New York's Times Square.

The SF vigil, at 6 p.m. in Portsmouth Square, is planned in solidarity with another happening in Times Square that's been organized by the NY-based Asians Fighting Injustice.


Go was shoved in front of a subway train on New York's N/Q/R/W line at Times Square Station on Saturday morning, and died from severe trauma. As we learned Monday, Go was born in Berkeley and grew up in Fremont, where she attended American High School, graduating in 1998. Most recently, she had been working for Deloitte in New York, and her family said she had just recently returned from a trip to the Maldives to celebrate her 40th birthday.

A suspect who fled the scene of Go's murder and later turned himself in has been identified as 61-year-old Simon Martial. The New York Post describes Martial as "unhinged," detailing how he shouted at reporters while being escorted out of the Midtown South precinct on Saturday — saying things like "I’m God," and claiming that he killed Go because "she stole my fucking jacket."

Go's family put out a statement Saturday, saying they were "in shock" over her loss, and saying that Go "was a beautiful, brilliant, kind, and intelligent woman who loved her family and friends, loved to travel the world and to help others."  They add, "Her life was taken too soon in a senseless act of violence, and we pray that she gets the justice that she deserves."

The violent and terrifying act — one of the greatest fears of public-transit riders everywhere, and especially in New York — is being seen both as another example of violence against Asian Americans that has seemingly increased on urban streets in the last two years, and as a first "test" of sorts for new Mayor Eric Adams.

The original version of the flyer for the Times Square vigil tonight had a message on it saying "Text 'stopasianhate' to 808-698-6868 for updates," but a subsequent version of the flyer instead says to text "rsvpnow" to that same number.

Top image: Go, center, on vacation with her family in an undated photo.