Anti-DA George Gascón billboards, signs pop up in LA County on heels of failed recall effort

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif (KABC) -- The newest effort to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón may have failed, but his critics aren't giving up.

Billboards and signs targeting Gascón were seen plastered across parts of the county on Wednesday, and they were quickly taken down.

Despite those anti-Gascón messages, the county's top prosecutor took a victory lap Wednesday after the second recall attempt did not qualify for the ballot.

"We are going to make mistakes. Our journey will have bumps. But, I know one thing. We're not going back," Gascón said.

Recall proponents needed over 566,000 valid signatures, but only 520,000 were verified. Gascón says he expects there to be another recall effort before he's up for re-election in 2024.

Some of the billboards and signs with eye-catching messages were placed prominently in the Melrose-Fairfax area and along Sunset Boulevard.

Gascón said the people who put them up need to grow up. However, it's unclear who specifically was behind them.

"I think unfortunately there are some people who are extremely immature and we know there are folks with discretionary funding. You put $10 million dollars towards collecting a half a million signatures, you do the math. Right," Gascón said. "You can get almost anything. You can get people to come out against Mickey Mouse. So especially when you're being untruthful and when you're putting out so much misinformation. I want to make it very clear. There are people that legitimately signed this because they are scared."

In a statement following the recall, the campaign which gathered the signatures said: "The removal of George Gascón from office has never been a matter of if, but when. The citizens of Los Angeles cannot afford another two years of Gascón unleashing havoc on their streets - people's lives are at stake."

Reflecting on the recall effort alongside supporters, including members of the Service Employee International Union, Gascón said he won't change his policies against mass incarceration, but he is evolving every day.

"The reality is that if you have a feeling of insecurity, it doesn't matter if I show you that crime is way down in comparison to 10 or 20 years ago," Gascon said. "I learned that the hard way quite frankly in the last year or so. I have to learn how to deal on an emotional level with people more than I have in the past, and I have to meet people where they're at. To that end, I know that I have to improve the way I communicate."