{"id":286853,"date":"2026-07-04T20:03:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T20:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/286853\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T20:03:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T20:03:41","slug":"mamdani-left-heartbroken-over-queens-protesters-decision-to-set-himself-on-fire-outside-united-nations-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/286853\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani left \u2018heartbroken\u2019 over Queens protester\u2019s decision to set himself on fire outside United Nations"},"content":{"rendered":"

The death of Tibetan activist Lobg Rangzen, the Queens Uber driver and Tibetan activist who\u00a0set himself on fire outside the United Nations<\/a> to protest the Chinese occupation of his native home, has left Mayor Mamdani \u201cheartbroken,\u201d the mayor said Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one should feel that such a desperate act is the only way to make the world listen<\/a>,\u201d the Mayor said on X. \u201cNew York stands for the dignity and human rights of all people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rangzen, 52, livestreamed his self-immolation<\/a>. He also recorded a six-minute appeal for Tibet\u2019s freedom and independence<\/a>\u00a0in his native language before putting on traditional monastic robes and walking to 42nd St and First Ave. around 6:30 p.m. Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if I do a big action today, I want you to know it is not for any personal reason,\u201d he said in the video. \u201cIt is not because I have nothing to eat or nothing to wear, but because I am doing this for my country. For the Tibetan nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe mourn this tragic loss and extend our deepest condolences to his loved ones and the Tibetan community across our city,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n

As he approached the U.N. he put his phone down on the street and recorded his self-immolation.<\/p>\n

The extremely graphic video<\/a>\u00a0posted online shows Rangzen walking to a spot on the street carrying a Tibetan flag. A moment later, his entire body erupts in flames.<\/p>\n

Fliers reading \u201cChina out of Tibet\u201d in his hands catch fire as they\u2019re tossed onto the street.<\/p>\n

Rangzen appears to flail and takes several steps as the fire consumes him. He stays on his feet for more than 30 seconds before he collapses, the footage shows.<\/p>\n

EMS rushed him to\u00a0Bellevue Hospital<\/a>, but he couldn\u2019t be saved.<\/p>\n

A U.N. spokesman said the incident happened after all scheduled meetings were finished for the day. No U.N. operations were affected, he said.<\/p>\n

Rangzen\u2019s death came a day after China began enforcing the Ethnic Unity and Progress Law in Tibet. The law creates a \u201cshared national identity\u201d among China\u2019s 55 ethnic minority group and gives Beijing the legal basis to take action against them.<\/p>\n

There have been more than 150 self-immolations by Tibetans between 2009 and 2022, according to the International Campaign for Tibet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The death of Tibetan activist Lobg Rangzen, the Queens Uber driver and Tibetan activist who\u00a0set himself on fire…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[109811,36610,9,24,63,122,124,123,109434,109809,21401,109812,109810,109813],"class_list":["post-286853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-lobg-rangzen","tag-mayor-mamdani","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-self-immolation","tag-the-united-nations","tag-tibet","tag-tibetan-community","tag-tibetan-flag","tag-tibetan-nation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}