Vienna, April 28, (dpa/GNA) – A 21-year-old man confessed in court on Tuesday, to planning a terrorist attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024.
The trial began in the Austrian capital on Tuesday, under tight security, over an alleged plot to carry out a mass casualty attack at the concert, part of Swift’s “Eras” tour, forcing the cancellation of the pop megastar’s three shows in the city.
The main defendant, an Austrian with North Macedonian roots, said until mid-2023, he had not been a radical Muslim. He said that had changed by January 2024 at the latest, through contact with Islamists.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the 21-year-old planned an attack shortly before Swift’s concerts in August 2024. He was said to have largely completed a shrapnel bomb to use in the attack.
The target was said to have been fans of the US pop megastar outside the concert venue. According to investigators, the suspect repeatedly professed allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist militia.
A second 21-year-old is also charged with terrorist offences.
The prosecution says that the two, together with a third suspect currently in custody in Saudi Arabia, formed a terrorist cell ready to strike at any time.
According to the authorities, the second defendant was not directly involved in the plan to attack the Swift concert.
Both defendants in Austria are suspected of having encouraged and supported the third suspect, who allegedly carried out a knife attack in Mecca in which several security officers were injured.
Both face possible prison sentences of between 10 and 20 years. The severity of the sentence will depend in part on whether the court finds they assisted the accomplice in the Saudi Arabia attack.
Penalties for merely preparing a terrorist act, such as the alleged plot targeting the Swift concert, are significantly lower.
Investigators say the main suspect considered multiple attack scenarios, including driving a vehicle into crowds of Swift fans waiting outside the stadium, and using explosives as well as bladed weapons to maximize casualties.
According to authorities, he told security officials after his arrest, that he had intended to kill himself along with a large number of people.
The suspect was arrested at his home in Ternitz in Lower Austria shortly before Swift’s first scheduled concert, following a tip-off from US intelligence services.
Police said he had quit his job on July 25, 2024, telling others he was planning to do something significant, and had begun concrete preparations for the attack soon after.
The two defendants and the third Islamist suspect reportedly knew each other from school, and were followers of Islamic State. They are believed to have travelled separately in March 2024 to plan attacks in Istanbul, Dubai and Mecca.
While the main suspect and the second defendant returned without carrying out attacks in Istanbul and Dubai, the third suspect allegedly stabbed several security officers in Mecca and was arrested there. Authorities say the Vienna concert plot was developed shortly afterward.
Four trial days have been scheduled, with a verdict potentially to be delivered on May 21.
Concerts scrapped
All three concerts, scheduled for August 8–10, 2024, were cancelled by the organizer as a precautionary measure following the suspect’s arrest. Around 200,000 visitors had been expected, with officials at the time describing the threat level as “very serious.”
Despite the cancellations, thousands of fans gathered in central Vienna, singing Swift’s songs, exchanging friendship bracelets and taking photos. Some venues offered free drinks to disappointed concertgoers.
Swift, 36, initially remained silent on the issue while continuing her tour, including five sold-out shows in London. She later said the cancellations had filled her with “a new sense of fear” and feelings of guilt, but expressed gratitude to authorities, noting that “thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.”
Swift was on her sixth major concert tour at the time. Her “Eras” tour began in March 2023 in the United States and concluded in December 2024 in Vancouver.
In the summer of 2024, she performed across Europe, including in the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland and Germany.
GNA