More details have emerged about the thwarted terror plot that led to the arrest of two Austrian teenagers and the cancellation of Taylor Swift’s three sold-out concerts in Vienna.
Speaking to the media following the arrest of the 19-year-old and 17-year-old male suspects, Austrian officials said the terror plot was planned for either Thursday or Friday’s show and that the suspects’ aim was to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue.”
Bomb-making materials were found at the home of the 19-year-old suspect, who officials say was inspired by Al Qaeda and ISIS. He was “clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels,” said Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, Austria’s head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence (via The Associated Press). “His goal was to kill himself and a large crowd of people.”
The 19-year-old suspect allegedly began planning the attack in July and had recently signed an online oath to ISIS. A raid of his home south of Vienna uncovered chemical substances and technical devices that indicated “concrete preparatory acts,” the Ministry of the Interior said.
According to officials, the suspect stole chemicals from his workplace to build a bomb. The suspect also planned to drive his vehicle into the crowd congregated outside the stadium while armed with knives and machetes.
The 17-year-old suspect was arrested by police near the Vienna stadium where Swift was set to perform; authorities said that the suspect — who also had ISIS and Al Qaeda material at his home — was employed by a company that provided unspecified services to concerts at the Ernst Happel Stadium.
“The situation was serious, the situation is serious. But we can also say: A tragedy was prevented,” Austria’s interior minister Gerhard Karner said Thursday.
Although investigators do not believe anyone else was involved in the terror plot, the decision was still made by Barracuda Music, the organizer of the Eras Tour Vienna shows, to cancel the concerts, which were estimated to draw 65,000 people inside the stadium and an additional 10,000 people outside the venue for each show.
“With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety,” Barracuda Music shared in a statement.
“The cancellation of the Taylor Swift concerts by the organizers is a bitter disappointment for all fans in Austria,” Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said in a statement. “The situation surrounding the apparently planned terrorist attack in Vienna was very serious. Thanks to the intensive cooperation of our police and the newly established DSN with foreign services, the threat was recognized early, combated and a tragedy prevented. Many thanks to the emergency services who are currently investigating at full speed.”
He continued, “We live in a time in which violent means are being used to attack our Western way of life. Islamist terrorism threatens security and freedom in many Western countries. This is precisely why we will not give up our values such as freedom and democracy, but will defend them even more vehemently.”
Swift has not yet commented on the cancelled Vienna shows.
Vienna was the second-to-last stop on the European leg of the Eras Tour, which concludes next week with five shows at London’s Wembley Stadium. Those shows are still scheduled to proceed, albeit with heightened security measures, Variety reports.
The U.K. has already been on edge the past week due to far-right and anti-immigrant protests in the aftermath of the stabbing deaths of three children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party in Southport; 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana was arrested and charged with the three murders as well as 10 more counts of attempted murder.
However, the London Metropolitan Police said Thursday there was “nothing of note” regarding Swift’s upcoming Wembley Stadium shows. U.K. Home Office minister Dame Diana Johnson added on LBC Radio, “Clearly the police will be looking at all the intelligence and making decisions. They risk assess every event that happens in this country.”
From Rolling Stone US
