Israel indicts US fugitive who allegedly planned to bomb Muslim holy sites

Adam Everett Livvix, who is wanted in the United States for questioning on drug-related charges, was apprehended by Israeli police on November 19.

By BEN HARTMAN
Adam Everett Livvix (photo credit: Courtesy)
Adam Everett Livvix
(photo credit: Courtesy)
An American fugitive living in Palestinian- controlled cities in the West Bank who allegedly planned to carry out terrorist attacks against the country’s Islamic holy sites was indicted by Israel on Tuesday.
Adam Everett Livvix, a Christian who is wanted in the United States for questioning on drug-related charges, was indicted by the Netanya Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday for illegal possession of arms and for being an undocumented alien. He also faces two other indictments on weapons charges.
Livvix was apprehended by police on November 19 while trying to flee a raid on his apartment, during which he leaped from the seventh-floor apartment to the balcony of the floor below, where he was arrested.
In their court statement, representatives of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and Israel Police said Livvix is from Texas, but there are other indications he is from Illinois, including an online obituary for a man who appears to be his late father. His sister in Illinois, contacted by The Jerusalem Post, did not know about his indictment and said she needed to speak to her family before talking to the press.
According to the first indictment, Livvix, who arrived in Israel on a tourist visa on March 7, 2013, had on many occasions told his acquaintances “about his negative opinions toward the Arab population in Israel and his desire to cause harm to Islamic holy sites in Israel through the use of explosive devices.”
In October 2014, he moved into the Netanya apartment of an IDF soldier who also holds American citizenship.
Soon after, he asked the soldier if he could help him acquire weapons, which the indictment says included 1.4 kg. of explosive bricks.
The indictment says that, shortly after Livvix moved in with the soldier, he asked him to acquire stun grenades for him, saying they were “so he could protect himself from Arabs while he was working in Jerusalem.” The soldier agreed and stole six stun grenades as well as tear gas canisters and smoke grenades from his IDF base and gave them to Livvix.
Later, the soldier stole two explosive bricks and fuses, and supplied the first brick and the grenades to Livvix in exchange for NIS 2,500. Livvix made his soldier roommate a down payment of NIS 500, the indictment states.
In late October, Livvix took the bomb and the grenades and stashed them in a storage shed next to his apartment.
According to police, Livvix entered Israel last year while on the run from US law enforcement.
He moved to Palestinian-controlled areas in Bethlehem and Hebron, where he encountered a terrorist operative who tried to recruit him to assassinate US President Barack Obama during his visit to the region last year.
Livvix, who was allegedly offered a sniper rifle to carry out the assassination, refused the offer, according to police.
He then left the Palestinian territories and illegally entered Israel, where he allegedly passed himself off as a soldier in the elite Navy SEALs commando unit.
During questioning, Livvix told police he had committed a number of fraud-related crimes.
He also admitted to making initial preparations for terrorist attacks against Islamic holy sites in Israel. None of the three indictments mention specific targets, and it is unclear if Livvix had actually plotted any specific attacks.
Authorities said on Tuesday that the Livvix investigation is being conducted in coordination with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The second indictment says that a soldier named as “BB”, also an American citizen, stole two explosive bricks in August 2014 from his base and asked his friend “GG” to help him get rid of them. GG later met Livvix, who told him he was looking to acquire explosives. GG told Livvix about BB, and said he would put them in touch. On October 21, GG and Livvix agreed that Livvix would pay NIS 4,000 for two explosive bricks.
Livvix asked for more time to get the money together, and in the meantime, on November 3, BB sold the bricks to an undercover military police officer.
The third indictment states that at some point during 2013, Livvix lived on Moshava Kinneret by the Sea of Galilee. At the moshav he met “DD,” who lived on Moshav Avnei Eitan on the Golan Heights. DD told Livvix that a soldier living in his apartment had bricks of C4 plastic explosive and was keeping them in a closet.
Livvix told him to bring him as much as he could of the C4, as well as whatever other weapons he could find in the closet. DD took some of the C4 and an unknown quantity of other weapons, the indictment states, and gave them to Livvix. The next day DD asked him to give him back the weapons, out of fear that he and Livvix would be caught. Livvix was angered by the request and threatened DD, the indictment states, though he later returned them.
The indictments present a picture of an amateur criminal who didn’t make much effort to cover his tracks. Prosecutors say in the first indictment that after he acquired the weapons through his roommate, Livvix showed them off to guests who visited his apartment. He also spoke openly to acquaintances about his “negative feelings toward Arabs”, one indictment says, especially in conversations with his ex-girlfriend.
An indictment says that these people were among those who tipped off police and testified to detectives about the weapons and Livvix’s hatred of Arabs and alleged plans to harm Islamic holy sites.
The first indictment says of Livvix that “his actions show the danger he presents to the public, and also the danger that he will try to interfere with the case.” It also mentions the “clear and obvious danger” posed by an illegal alien in possession of explosives, and that his attempt to flee police by jumping from his apartment window indicates that he is a flight risk and should be kept in custody.
The Netanya Magistrate’s Court on Monday ordered Livvix to be kept in custody until the end of legal proceedings against him, and ordered him to be sent for psychiatric evaluation.