Austrian authorities said Wednesday they have arrested a 19-year-old man for allegedly planning an Islamist attack in the Vienna region, in connection with scheduled concerts by U.S. pop star Taylor Swift later this week.
Barracuda Music, the concert organizers, announced late Wednesday on Instagram that the shows would be canceled. “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,”
The man, who had pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group “in recent weeks,” was detained in Ternitz, Lower Austria about an hour from the capital early on Wednesday, Austria’s top security chief Franz Ruf told a press conference. According to the Kronen Zeitung, the suspect is an Austrian with North Macedonian roots.
“We have established corresponding preparatory acts and also that there is a focus of the 19-year-old perpetrator on the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna,” Ruf said.
He said that chemical substances had been seized at the suspect’s home.
Another arrest was also made in Vienna in connection with the Ternitz operation on Wednesday afternoon. According to the police, both of the suspects had sworn allegiance to the terrorist organization Islamic State a few weeks ago and had become radicalized online. The two organized their planned attack via encrypted messenger communication, Kronen Zeitung reports. According to police sources, three other suspects are still being sought, Kurier reported on Wednesday afternoon.
Police measures will be stepped up in the Vienna region in the coming days, particularly at the entrances to the concerts of Taylor Swift who is performing on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in Vienna.
About 65,000 spectators are expected each show.
Vienna police chief Gerhard Puerstl said the concrete danger had meanwhile been minimised, but since there was still an “abstract danger,” necessary measures will be taken, with special units being deployed for the concerts.
In November 2020, a convicted Islamic State group sympathiser went on a shooting rampage in downtown Vienna, killing four and wounding 23 others before police shot him dead.
It marked the Alpine nation’s first deadly jihadist attack.
