Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson is in a public feud with Selma attorney Faya Rose Toure and her husband, former Alabama Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, over a political ad purchased for the 2020 Bridge Crossing Jubilee newspaper.

Jackson alleged that a $200 political ad he purchased for his wife, mayoral candidate Miah Jackson, never appeared in the publication – according to Jackson, he has contacted both Sanders and Toure requesting a refund.

Toure and Sanders, however, assert that the advertisement ran as scheduled – a copy of the 2020 publication, which us labeled as “Commemorating the 55^th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the Selma/Montgomery March,” includes an advertisement for Miah Jackson on page six.

“I believe what Michael Jackson did was so bad that it’s criminal,” Sanders said of the district attorney’s actions. “He accused my wife of forging an ad.”

Michael Jackson, however, alleged that the publication provided to the Times-Journal, which does not include datelined articles or pages, was only recently published and never appeared during the 2020 Bridge Crossing Jubilee.

“My wife Miah was sick at the time of the Jubilee,” Jackson said. “She normally goes. But because she was sick the time, I paid the Jubilee group $200 to run an ad. Faya Rose and her group did not run the ad in any newspaper. I attended the Jubilee. There was no paper to be found.” “They didn’t put one out,” Michael Jackson continued. “I contacted them months ago about a refund. I was told that Rose Sanders was no longer over the organization even though she was over it at the time the check was cashed. I wrote Rose a letter weeks ago asking for a refund. I stated in the letter that maybe she and her group made a mistake. I never heard back.”

Sanders, however, said that Michael Jackson sent the letter to Toure after she stepped down and alleged that the letter included a threat.

“Michael Jackson wrote the letter knowing she wasn’t heading the Jubilee anymore,” Sanders said. “In my opinion, it was an opportunity for him to pick a fight with my wife.”

The issue gained attention following an appearance by Toure on a local radio show last week, after which it was reported on by a Montgomery-based news agency.

“Rose went to one of the local TV stations with a fake newspaper claiming that the ad did run,” Michael Jackson said. “The ad was faker than counterfeit money. I debated whether to respond to the news story, but I was told by the newsman that he was going to run the story no matter what. I showed the newsman the only newspaper that Rose and her group has passed out since the Jubilee.  The ad could not and was not in there because it was a 2019 newspaper she has been passing out.” “She then created a fake newspaper within the last couple of days because they never printed a 2020 Jubilee newspaper until I called them out on the news,” Michael Jackson continued. “Again, they have gone and printed up a fake 2020 newspaper the last couple of days. If they had a 2020 newspaper before now, why wouldn’t they have just said it and either sent it to me or had me come by and get it?”

For his part, Sanders believes Michael Jackson should step down as district attorney over the allegations levied against Toure.

“If a person did that, it’s bad; for a district attorney to do that, it’s terrible,” Sanders said. “What he has done is criminal. If this is his leadership as district attorney, putting multi-million dollar bonds on criminals, he’s doing a disservice to the community. He needs to resign.”

For her part, Toure asserted in a Sept. 16 letter addressed to Michael Jackson that he is not owed a refund.

“I am highly disturbed that you would use the threat of criminal prosecution to get a refund, which you did not deserve,” Toure said in the letter.

Toure went on to say that, compared to the “injustices” she and affiliated organizations have experienced under Michael Jackson’s “prosecutorial leadership,” the $200 is insignificant and vowed to pursue further action.

“I intend to pursue this matter to determine if you crossed the line,” Toure said in the Sept. 16 letter. “This appears to be a personal vendetta against me because I have distributed a newsletter that says it is a moral conflict of interest for your wife to be mayor, with influence over the police department, while you are serving as an ‘unjust prosecutor.’”