ISIS-inspired suspect planned suicide attack at Taylor Swift concert, Austrian authorities say
Foreign intelligence agencies helped authorities uncover the alleged scheme, according to the country’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner. A source familiar told CNN that the US issued a warning to authorities in Vienna.
Organizers canceled three concerts, which were scheduled to take place in the European capital from Thursday to Saturday. CNN has reached out to Swift’s representatives for comment.
Investigators unearthed a stockpile of chemicals, explosive devices and detonators at the home of the main suspect, a 19-year-old ISIS sympathizer who had been radicalized online, according to authorities.
The young man – who was arrested Wednesday morning in the eastern town of Ternitz – planned to kill himself and “a large number of people,” according to the head of the domestic intelligence agency, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner.
“He said he intended to carry out an attack using explosives and knives,” Haijawi-Pirchner told reporters in Vienna on Thursday. “His aim was to kill himself and a large number of people during the concert, either today or tomorrow.”
Two other suspects were detained, aged 17 and 15. The 17-year-old worked for a facilities company that would have provided services at the concert venue. He was near the stadium when he was arrested and had recently broken up with his girlfriend, according to Haijwai-Pirchner.
Little has been revealed about the 15-year-old. Prosecutors will decide later if he was a witness or directly involved in the alleged plot.
The three are all Austrian citizens with either Turkish, North Macedonian or Croatian backgrounds.
The trio were in contact with other individuals who knew about the plan, said the country’s director general for public security, Franz Ruf. No-one else is being sought in direct connection with the plot, Ruf added.
The cancellations of the Swift concert triggered an outpouring of heartbreak, grief and relief among Swifties hoping to attend the record-breaking Eras Tour in Vienna. Hailed as a cultural phenomenon, the scale, influence and intricacy of Swift’s musical voyage have made headlines for boosting the economies of the cities she visits.
CNN’s Zahid Mahmood, Jessie Yeung, Isaac Yee and Katie Bo Lillis contributed reporting.
The Swift concerts' cancellation affected not just Vienna, but potentially other European cities on her tour, given the economic impact of her performances.Determined individuals from various European backgrounds were involved in the alleged plot, adding a global dimension to the perceived threat.
