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Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

A Tibetan activist died on Thursday after setting himself on fire outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, according to the New York City Police Department.

Police responded to an emergency call at around 6.30 p.m. ET on July 2 and found the man with severe burns, a police department spokesperson said in a statement to multiple news outlets.

The man, who was an Uber driver, was carrying a Tibetan flag during the incident. He was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the spokesperson.

Police are still investigating the incident and have not disclosed the man’s identity or potential motive for him to self-immolate.

The Tibetan National Congress of New York and New Jersey said in a July 3 statement posted to Instagram that the man was a 52-year-old Tibetan activist named Lobsang Palden, also known as Lobga Rangzen, who has “dedistatement that the man was a 52-year-old Tibetan activist named Lobsang Palden, also known as Lobga Rangzen, who had “dedicated his life to participating in peaceful, non-violent demonstrations to expose China’s human rights abuses in Tibet.”

The organization said Rangzen broadcast a livestream on Facebook before self-immolating near the U.N. headquarters, in which he called for Tibetan independence and spoke about the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

The activist attributed his actions to his commitment to Tibet and emphasized that they were not driven by any personal circumstances, the Tibetan National Congress added.

In his final message, he said: “I don’t want you to mourn for me, I want you to continue the struggle for Tibetan independence, because the lack of independence is the root of all our problems,” according to the Tibetan National Congress.

“We must recognize and remember that Lobga Rangzen committed this act for the political freedom of Tibet,” Jamyang Norbu, founder of the Tibetan National Congress, said in the statement.