A Tibetan activist lit himself on fire and outside of the United Nations headquarters in New York on Thursday to protest China’s control over his homeland, declaring in a video before his self-immolation that Beijing’s policies were “destroying the Tibetan people.” He later died.
Friends of the activist identified him as Lobsang Palden, known as Lobga Rangzen, a 52-year-old resident of Queens. Originally from eastern Tibet, Lobga Rangzen had been an advocate of Tibetan independence for more than a decade.
The police said that around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday they responded to a call for help at East 42nd Street and 1st Avenue, next to the U.N. headquarters, where they found a man with severe burns throughout his body. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Lobga Rangzen appeared to have recorded his self-immolation on a livestream on his own Facebook page, which was verified by a friend of his. In it, he could be seen walking across a street outside of the U.N. building with a large Tibetan flag. Moments after he erected the flag on a street corner, he lit himself on fire. He stepped on to the street as his body was engulfed in flames then collapsed on the ground. (The video was later taken down.)
In another video posted on his Facebook page also on Thursday, Lobga Rangzen called on his compatriots in exile to unite and do more to fight for Tibet’s independence. He hinted that he planned a demonstration that day and said that it was purely for political reasons.
“So if I do a big action today, I want you to know it is not for any personal reason. It 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,” he said.
