New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani faced an embarrassing moment Friday when he attended the funeral of Sgt. Angel Sarah Rampersad, a U.S. soldier from the city who was killed in an Iranian attack in Jordan last month, but was seated in the fourth row and was not invited to deliver the speech he had prepared.
A source who attended the service told the New York Post that Rampersad’s family supports President Donald Trump and did not want his Democratic rival to speak.
The newspaper, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate and widely regarded as a pro-Republican tabloid, described the incident as humiliating for Mamdani. It said City Hall did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Rampersad, 28, was one of three U.S. soldiers killed on July 17 in an Iranian missile attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. She grew up in Ozone Park, Queens, graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and joined the Army, following in the footsteps of her uncle.
Her funeral was held at Calvary Assembly of God in Ozone Park and attended by hundreds of relatives, neighbors, fellow soldiers and other mourners.
A person who attended the service said Mamdani appeared to be reviewing his planned remarks on an iPad while New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and other dignitaries were invited to speak.
“They kept calling names and then he was never called,” the source said.
Sgt. Angel Sarah Rampersad
(Photo: U.S. Army/Handout via REUTERS)
“Then he looked over at his staff, frustrated and seemed angry that he didn’t speak. When he realized his name wasn’t being called, he looked at his staff angrily and then eventually put his tablet away.”
Mamdani, a democratic socialist and outspoken critic of Israel and the U.S. war against Iran, was seated near first-term New York City Councilman Frank Morano, a Republican from Staten Island.
Another source involved in the funeral’s planning said Rampersad’s family did not want Mamdani’s presence to turn the service into a political event.
“The family is more conservative and wanted to limit any political distractions,” the source said.
Morano, who is not considered a Mamdani ally, said he was surprised the mayor had not been invited to address the mourners.
“I was surprised the mayor didn’t speak,” he said. “I didn’t understand why they would have lower-level officials speak and not the mayor.”
Hochul spoke during the service, followed by Ozone Park Residents Block Association President Sam Esposito, New York state Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. and Richards.
“I feel after reading and admiring this woman from a distance, I feel like she could be one of my daughters,” Hochul said.
After the funeral, Mamdani’s press team released the speech he had intended to deliver, labeling it “remarks as prepared,” apparently to show that it contained no political message.
“It is often said that our fallen ‘gave their tomorrows for our today.’ Sergeant Rampersad had tomorrows waiting for her: birthdays, ordinary mornings, evenings spent with her loved ones. But she gave every one of them up so that we could have ours, so that we could stand here today, safe and protected.”
Daisy Davis-Credle, president of the Queens Sunday School Association, praised Rampersad’s ability to connect with soldiers of every rank.
“She could talk to people in her rank, above her rank, and they would accept it since it was the way she did it,” Davis-Credle said after the funeral.
“It’s not what you do, it’s how you do what you do. And she knew how to do that, they listened to her.”
After the service, New York Police Department officers carried Rampersad’s coffin from the church to a hearse, which joined a police procession to her burial site on Long Island.