Muslim Association of Hawaii Chairman Hakim Oansafi believes he will be targeted by a man who has been attacking fellow Muslims, Oansafi said in court documents.
Oansafi, who is also Hawaii Public Housing Authority executive director, filed the temporary restraining order request in state court against Jamal Morris on Tuesday. He said he bases his fear on a telephone call Morris made to another man May 16 when Morris was in the Queen’s Medical Center’s psychiatric ward.
In the call, Oansafi said, Morris named him as his next target and justified his previous attacks.
Police took Morris to Queen’s after they arrested him following a May 15 attack on a man who knew Morris from the mosque in Manoa.
Morris, 24, is facing two counts of felony assault for two incidents. One is for allegedly dousing a 37-year-old man with vodka at a Moiliili restaurant on May 11 and trying to ignite the vodka. The other assault charge is for allegedly trying to gouge an eye of a 29-year-old University of Hawaii graduate student on May 15 while Morris was free on bail for the May 11 incident.
Before posting bail for the first assault case, Morris was in a fight at Oahu Community Correctional Center, said Toni Schwartz, state Department of Public Safety spokeswoman.
Morris’ bail is now $100,000 for the second assault case and $2,500 for the first case. He is in custody at the Hawaii State Hospital in Kaneohe awaiting a mental exam.
Schwartz said Morris got into a fight with another inmate at OCCC on May 13. Morris and the other inmate did not need medical attention outside of the prison, Schwartz said.
No further details about the May 13 incident can be released, she added, because the fight was still under investigation.
Morris posted $2,000 bail a day after the prison fight and was released, only to be arrested again on May 15.
An Oahu grand jury indicted Morris on a charge of felony attempted assault for allegedly trying to gouge out the eye of Maseeh Ganjali on May 15.
Ganjali told the Star-Advertiser last week that Morris tried to take out his right eye and repeatedly bit and hit him on the face.
Morris was sent back to OCCC after his indictment but was transferred to the Hawaii State Hospital on Wednesday.
At a hearing in Honolulu District Court on Tuesday, a judge granted Morris’ lawyer’s request for a mental examination. The mental exam puts on hold any action in either of the two assault cases.
The victim in the May 11 incident is Musa Bangura. Oansafi says Bangura is the treasurer of the Muslim Association of Hawaii.
The victim in the May 15 incident is Maseeh Ganjali, who has said Morris has been threatening members of the Muslim community, most of whom are members of the mosque in Manoa.
