Austrian prosecutors have filed terrorism charges against a 21-year-old man suspected of planning an attack on one of Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna in August 2024. As a result of warnings received by the authorities, the three concerts scheduled in the Austrian capital, part of the tour “Eras Tour“, were cancelled, notes The Guardian.
A spokesman for the Prosecutor’s Office in Vienna confirmed on Monday that the defendant is in pretrial detention. The Austrian press identifies the suspect as Beran A, arrested since August 2024. According to prosecutors, he allegedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist organization, distributing propaganda materials and videos through various messaging services.
The investigators claim that the young man obtained from the Internet instructions for the manufacture of an artisanal bomb, frequently used by the Islamic State, and that he would have succeeded in producing a small amount of this substance. Prosecutors also say the suspect did “several attempts” to buy weapons illegally from outside Austria and bring them into the country.
The case is to be tried in Wiener Neustadt, a city located near Vienna. At the same time, the young man is accused of having been involved in planning other attacks abroad, including in Dubai and Istanbul, but these plans did not materialize. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
After canceling the concerts, Taylor Swift wrote on social networks that the decision provoked her “a new sense of fear” and “a huge sense of guilt”considering the large number of fans who intended to attend the shows.
The decision of the Austrian authorities was also made on the basis of information provided by the United States. In August 2024, the White House’s national security spokesman at the time, John Kirby, stated that the US was working closely with international partners to monitor and counter terrorist threats and that they had passed relevant information to authorities in Austria to prevent a possible attack on the concerts in Vienna.
Last year, a court in Berlin also convicted a 16-year-old Syrian teenager for involvement in this plot, receiving an 18-month suspended prison sentence.
