A 21-year-old Austrian pleaded guilty to planning a terror attack on Taylor Swift's August 2024 Vienna concerts. Police found an almost completed bomb at his residence.
11:52 AM
A 21-year-old Austrian man identified as Beran A pleaded guilty on Tuesday to plotting a jihadist attack on Taylor Swift concerts scheduled for Vienna in August 2024, according to court proceedings in Wiener Neustadt near Vienna.
Beran A admitted to planning the attack and to being part of a terrorist organisation. He denied other charges, including involvement in planning an attack in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the Islamic holy city.
State prosecutors told the court that police discovered an almost completed bomb during a search of the man's house. Beran A was arrested on August 7, 2024, the day before the first of three planned concerts by Swift at Vienna's Ernst Happl Stadium.
The arrest followed a tip-off from the Central Intelligence Agency. As a result of the threat, organisers cancelled all three sold-out concerts. More than 195,000 people in total had been expected to attend the shows, which were among the final performances of Swift's Eras Tour.
The planned attack was thwarted with the help of U.S. intelligence. Organisers had planned dozens of events surrounding the concerts before the cancellations were announced.
It was not yet clear what other charges Beran A pleaded guilty to beyond the attack plot and terrorist organisation membership, according to reports from Austrian outlets Kurier and Kronen Zeitung covering the trial proceedings.
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