{"id":313348,"date":"2026-05-13T08:13:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T08:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/313348\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T08:13:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T08:13:12","slug":"stockton-woman-pleads-not-guilty-to-defacing-ice-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/313348\/","title":{"rendered":"Stockton woman pleads not guilty to defacing ICE facility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minutes after she left Sacramento federal court Tuesday morning, Prism Atica explained why she chose to contest two charges related to an incident she freely admits.<\/p>\n

Atica pleaded not guilty in the Robert T. Matsui U.S. Courthouse to two Class C misdemeanor charges. The charges relate to a March incident where Atica spray-painted the outside of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Stockton and took down an American flag there, which she discussed in interviews for this story.<\/p>\n

Shortly before entering her plea, Megan T. Hopkins was appointed Atica\u2019s defense attorney. This helped spur Atica\u2019s not guilty plea, she explained as she stood outside court Tuesday with supporters around her. \u201cMegan leaned over and whispered and said, \u2018You should do this,\u2019\u201d Atica said.<\/p>\n

It sets up a next court appearance of June 22. The two charges Atica faces carry possible sentences of 30 days in jail and $5,000 fines.<\/p>\n

The day also was an example of a burgeoning trend in the greater Sacramento area, where activists like Atica have faced charges but also haven\u2019t been quick to back down.<\/p>\n

Who Atica is and why she\u2019s facing charges<\/p>\n

In an interview for this story on Monday, Atica explained that she had gone to the ICE building on March 4 and spray-painted on it, \u201cBe you. All of you. \u2014 Prism.\u201d She also said she took down the flag. \u201cI was just like, \u2018You don\u2019t deserve to have the U.S. flag, like y\u2019all are being jerks.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Atica is a 26-year-old Stockton resident who is active in social justice work. She volunteers with the People\u2019s Empowerment Center, according to its CEO RC Thompson. Thompson said Atica is part of a wave of activism from younger generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re feeling rage,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cThey\u2019re feeling betrayed by the government. And so when we see families broken apart \u2026 Prism has always been a person who has fought for families and fought for families to be together, no matter their sexual orientation or their immigrant status.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ezra Kottler, an assistant professor at University of the Pacific, said that Atica \u201creally doing a lot of important work in the communities that she\u2019s based in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ezra Ezra Kottler, of Sacramento, second from left, holds a sign in support of Prism Atica, an activist who was arrested for after taking a flag from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Stockton, after Atica’s hearing at Robert T. Matsui U.S. Courthouse in Sacramento on Tuesday. HECTOR AMEZCUA hamezcua@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Atica came out as non-binary in 2020 and trans femme in 2023. Until recently, she had long, flowing hair. She said she switched to a buzz cut after her hair was grabbed while she was detained at Sacramento County Main Jail in February, following a separate incident at Sacramento International Airport.<\/p>\n

She faced charges in federal court Tuesday under the name Michael Wayne Cozzens. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremy D. Peterson made some effort to support Atica\u2019s gender identity Tuesday. This included Peterson referring to her as \u201cMiss\u201d and apologizing when he at one point misgendered her.<\/p>\n

It contrasted greatly with an appearance in Sacramento Superior Court on Monday that appeared to be related to the February airport incident. The judge in this case called Atica as Michael Cozzens and appeared indifferent to Atica\u2019s identity. Atica faces misdemeanor charges of trespassing and resisting a peace officer in that case.<\/p>\n

As she stood Tuesday morning outside the federal courtroom where she\u2019d appeared before Peterson, Atica said happily that this was the first time a judge had acted this way toward her.<\/p>\n

Who is supporting Atica<\/p>\n

At least nine people showed up to federal court on Tuesday to support Atica, representing Camp For Justice, Sac Immigration Committee and Decarcerate Sacramento. The group was also supporting Joshua Masias, a Camp For Justice member who was facing misdemeanor charges.<\/p>\n

Roughly half a dozen people were also in Sacramento Superior Court on Monday when Atica and Masias appeared to face charges there. \u201cThis is a bogus one, too,\u201d Masias said before going into federal court on Tuesday. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty much just more targeted harassment of protesters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sisi Feay, a member of Camp For Justice, which demonstrates outside the John E. Moss Federal Building in Sacramento where ICE detainees are taken, was in attendance Tuesday as a supporter. She said her group came out to show support for Stockton protesters and that they supported her group as well.<\/p>\n

Feay admitted to having pending charges of her own. \u201cLike for the last month \u2026 month and a half, it\u2019s been court every week for somebody else,\u201d Feay said.<\/p>\n

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Atica walked happily through Sacramento following her court appearance Monday, saying hello to random people.<\/p>\n

Atica said that her parents want her to use an insanity defense. She rejects this. \u201cGenuinely, that\u2019s just a lie,\u201d Atica said. \u201cBecause even though it was a little bit in, like, a grandiose state, I stand behind everything I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Prism Prism Atica, an activist who was arrested for protesting ICE in Stockton by taking down a flag, attends a hearing at Robert T. Matsui U.S. Courthouse in Sacramento on Tuesday. HECTOR AMEZCUA hamezcua@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Atica\u2019s father Spencer Cozzens travelled from his home in Utah and attended court with Atica both days. He said that he and Atica\u2019s mother had paid their daughter\u2019s legal defenses in the past, but that she didn\u2019t want that this time.<\/p>\n

Margaret McKenna of the Sacramento County Public Defender\u2019s Office was appointed to Atica\u2019s case Monday. Hopkins, who was appointed to Atica\u2019s federal case Tuesday, worked in the federal public defender\u2019s office until last month and is now in private practice.<\/p>\n

Spencer Cozzens watched somberly and with some concern Tuesday morning as his daughter chatted amiably with a federal prosecutor, prior to her court appearance. \u201cI\u2019m 100% convinced that she doesn\u2019t understand the gravity,\u201d Spencer Cozzens said. \u201cShe believes in a better world than what we have. And that\u2019s where she chooses to live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, there was no question whatsoever to Spencer Cozzens to keep supporting his daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could never not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This is a developing story; check back with sacbee.com<\/a> for updates.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 11:51 AM.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Graham Womack<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Graham Womack is a general assignment reporter for The Sacramento Bee. Prior to joining The Bee full-time in September 2025, he freelanced for the publication for several years. His work has won several California Journalism Awards and spurred state legislation.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minutes after she left Sacramento federal court Tuesday morning, Prism Atica explained why she chose to contest two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-313348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}