She protested ICE. She died from hanging in custody.

ICE agents in Downtown Los Angeles on June 13, the day anti-ICE protester Adrienne Villa was arrested by state police. She was found dead in her cell four days later.

Adrienne Villa, a 47-year-old resident of Skid Row, stood before a judge in the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on June 17, pleading not guilty to 14 charges related to her participation in protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) raids. The charges carried enhancements under California’s Three Strikes Law, and her bail was set at $1.33 million, a sum far beyond her means. Hours later, she was found hanging in a cell within the courthouse’s lockup. She was pronounced dead at 4 a.m. the next morning.

Her death, which occurred nearly two months ago, has only now come to light through a report by the LA Public Press, raising urgent questions about the treatment of protesters, the aggressive charging practices of local prosecutors, and the conditions that led to her death.

This is the first known death of an anti-ICE protester in Los Angeles, where demonstrations against federal immigration enforcement have sparked a forceful response from law enforcement and the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines by the Trump administration.

Villa’s case is one of at least 71 stemming from the June protests, which saw thousands take to the streets to oppose ICE and CBP raids in immigrant communities. According to an analysis by LA Public Press, 62 adults have been charged, with 61 pleading not guilty. Many remain jailed for weeks or months, unable to work or care for their families. Those who can afford bail bonds often face crushing debt, while others, like Villa, are remanded to custody under conditions that advocates say are punitive and politically motivated.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office have charged at least 71 people with crimes allegedly committed during the protests. The cases largely involve allegations of throwing rocks, fireworks, beer cans, and water bottles at officers; driving motorcycles into police lines; and spray-painting “Fuck ICE” on buildings. Others face accusations of looting stores during the demonstrations. Experts have noted however that the vast majority of violence at anti-ICE protests has come from local, state, and federal law enforcement against protesters.

But it is the scale and severity of the charges that have alarmed civil rights advocates. At least 50 people, including two juveniles, have been charged with felonies by District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s office, and at least 21 with misdemeanors by City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto’s office. The District Attorney has sought to increase penalties in the cases of 13 people, applying 47 enhancements for prior convictions, alleged great bodily injury, and deadly weapon use.

Notably, 20 of these enhancements, over 40%, were applied to Villa’s case, despite the fact that her charges stemmed from non-violent protests. Villa, who had prior felony convictions, faced the possibility of life imprisonment under the Three Strikes Law if convicted.

Villa’s death occurs within a broader context of escalating tensions between federal authorities and protesters. Since the protests began in June, journalists have been among the most frequently injured, with over 30 incidents of police violence against members of the media documented by the Los Angeles Press Club. Among those injured was Nick Stern, a British photojournalist who was struck by a riot munition round and required emergency surgery to remove the round from his body. The next time he returned to cover anti-ICE protests, months later, LAPD assaulted him and split his face open while he was displaying press credentials and identifying himself as a journalist.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has doubled down on its response. In addition to deploying National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles, the president has accused protesters of being “paid insurrectionists” and suggested that without military intervention, the city would have been “obliterated.” California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have condemned the deployment as an abuse of power and an alarming federal overreach, but their actions tell a different story. While denying that they stand in support of the Trump administration’s mass deportation operations, local and state police (LAPD and CHP) have been openly collaborating with ICE and CBP officials during raids and during violent repression against responding protests.

For Villa, the protests were personal. As a Skid Row resident, she was part of a community disproportionately affected by poverty, policing, and now, immigration raids. Her death has sparked outrage among activist groups like the People’s City Council, which is demanding answers about the circumstances of her arrest and the events leading to her death.

“What exactly led to her arrests? What evidence exists supporting the charges? What happened after her arraignment?” the group asked. “We need answers.”

According to Lieutenant Daniel Vizcarra of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Villa was found hanging in a cell lockup on the day of her hearing. The coroner pronounced her dead early the next morning. The Sheriff’s Department has no recent public record listed of any prior in-custody deaths at the Clara Shortridge Foltz courthouse, making Villa’s death a rare and troubling incident. Typically, in-custody deaths occur in prisons, not courthouse jail cells.  

Villa’s case highlights the particular vulnerabilities faced by marginalized individuals caught up in the legal system. As a Skid Row resident, she likely lacked the resources to mount a robust defense against the charges she faced. Her bail, set at $1.33 million, was effectively a denial of pretrial release, given her economic circumstances.

As protests against ICE raids continue, the death of Adrienne Villa serves as a grim reminder of the stakes involved. For many activists, her death is not just a tragedy but a call to action.

But for now, the questions surrounding her death remain unanswered. Why did it take two months for the public to learn of her death? Why has the national media largely ignored the story? And perhaps most importantly, what will be done to ensure that other protesters do not meet the same fate?

For Villa, the system may have delivered its ultimate punishment. But for those who continue to fight, her death is a rallying cry: a symbol of the brutality of a system that seems increasingly intent on silencing dissent.