Here in New York City, a vigil was held Tuesday evening for Michelle Alyssa Go, a 40-year-old Asian American woman who was fatally struck by an oncoming train after a man pushed her onto the subway tracks on Saturday. This is Ben Wei, founder of Asians Fighting Injustice and an organizer of last night’s vigil.

Ben Wei: “This tragedy of another member of our community, the AAPI community here in New York, being taken from us is one that we’ve heard way too often over the past two years. Sadly, in New York City in 2020, while everybody was quarantining and hate crimes across the city dropped, hate crimes against the AAPI community rose by 800%. In 2021, it rose by 350%, at least.”

A man, Simon Martial, was charged with her murder. Officials say Martial, who is unhoused, struggled with mental health issues and had harassed another woman in the subway shortly before he attacked Go. Michelle Go, who worked at Deloitte Consulting, was a longtime volunteer with underserved communities, including unhoused people.