The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on July 14 charged Adam Friedman, the son of Beverly Hills City Councilman Lester Friedman, with a felony and misdemeanor for allegedly creating a fake Instagram account that impersonated then-council candidate Sharona Nazarian. 

On July 18, Adam Friedman pleaded not guilty to the charges. His next scheduled court date is July 28 in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

Eleven candidates ran for three seats on the council in the June 7 Primary Election. Councilmen Friedman and John Mirisch won re-election, while Nazarian won her first term on the council. They were all installed on July 12.  

Mirisch said the charges were “bogus,” and that they are indicative of District Attorney George Gascón’s flawed priorities.  

“When I first ran, I was the victim of dirty tricks that should have been prosecuted,” Mirisch said. “Someone made a recording of an incoherent, drunken-sounding person saying, ‘Vote for John, he’s great,’ and then woke people up in the middle of the night, calling their phones with the recording. Of course, I got angry reactions from people who said they’d never vote for me. We reported this to the D.A., who did absolutely nothing. I don’t have any tolerance for dirty tricks.”  

However, he said that experience “was a very different situation” than what occurred leading up to the June 7 election. 

The D.A.’s office charged Adam Friedman, 37, with one felony count of identity theft and one misdemeanor count of internet/electronic impersonation for creating “Sharona4Gascon,” an Instagram account that claimed Nazarian supported the embattled D.A., who is facing a recall. Recall proponents have submitted enough signatures to have it placed on the November ballot, but county officials are still verifying the signatures. 

On June 9, authorities raided Lester Friedman’s home as part of the investigation into the account. At the time, Friedman said his home was one of eight locations that were searched, and that the warrant was “not directed [at me], nor did it name me.” 

“There are a ton of parody [Instagram] and Twitter accounts, and what the D.A. claims is ‘felony ID theft’ is clearly no more than a parody IG page, like so many others,” Mirisch added. “Let’s be clear, felony ID theft is when someone steals someone else’s identity in an effort to enrich themselves by stealing someone else’s money. It’s not making fun of a political opponent using parody and/or satire.”  

He said it is “interesting” that Gascón has “done absolutely nothing” to stop the distribution of antisemitic flyers in Beverly Hills, yet he devotes “considerable taxpayer dollars and resources” to embarrass Friedman, who, along with the rest of the council, opposes Gascón’s “destructive, anti-resident policies.” 

More than 30 cities, including Beverly Hills, have voted “no confidence” in Gascón, according to proponents of the recall. On Jan. 4, the City Council voted unanimously to support his recall.  

“It’s possible that the D.A. would say there’s ‘nothing he can do’ about the antisemitic flyers because they’re protected by the First Amendment,” Mirisch said. “But then, he, of all people, should know that parody is also protected by the First Amendment.” 

According to the Library of Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1988 ruled unanimously that a parody, “which no reasonable person expected to be true,” is protected by the First Amendment.  

“The irony in all of this is not only that Gascón likes to go easy on violent offenders, while spending considerable time, money and resources ginning up bogus felony charges,” Mirisch said. “That irony is multiplied by the fact that the D.A.’s office sent out the press release about Councilmember Friedman’s son on the same day they announced they were shuttering the unit responsible for supporting family members of murder victims and victims of sexual assault.” 

In a statement, the D.A.’s office said its Bureau of Victim Services is still “very much” up and running, and its efforts to support victims have been bolstered under Gascón. 

“Victims who reach out to us will still have access to the supportive services of our victim service representatives,” the statement read. “That has not changed.” 

Mirisch said Gascón should be recalled immediately. 

“Not only does this stark contrast show just how shameful the D.A. is, it is just another reason why Gascón needs to be removed from office as soon as possible and replaced with a pro-resident, pro-community D.A. who understands that criminal justice reform and public safety have to go hand-in-hand and who will not erase the victims of crime,” Mirisch added. 

Councilman Friedman could not be reached for comment. On July 14, his campaign manager, Judie Fenton, said they did not know about the charges or the origins of the account. On July 15, she said Friedman was unavailable, as he was out of town.  

Nazarian declined to comment on the charges, saying that she did not believe it would be appropriate to comment on an ongoing investigation. 

Beverly Hills City Attorney Larry Wiener said his office is not involved in the investigation, which would not change the June 7 election results. 

“Neither the charges, nor a conviction, would influence the recent election result,” he said.  

Editor Edwin Folven contributed to this report.