Taylor Swift was scheduled to perform in Vienna, Austria on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday as part of her Eras tour but canceled the shows due to a planned terrorist attack. Three suspects have been arrested including one Islamic radical who pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State.
The plotters intended to do a suicide attack using explosives and knives during either the Thursday or Friday show. On both nights, 65,000 people were expected inside Ernst Happel Stadium and another 30,000 outside of the performance venue. (READ MORE: The Tories’ Immigration Policies Spawned This Chaos)
The main suspect is a 19-year-old Austrian man with North Macedonian roots. He made a full confession after being taken into custody by the authorities. Investigators discovered that he was radicalized and indoctrinated into radical Islamic beliefs online.
He allegedly began planning in July. A few weeks ago, he released an “oath of allegiance” to “the leader of the Islamic State.” His goal was to kill as many infidels — non-Muslims — as he possibly could. It is unclear which “leader” of the Islamic State he declared his allegiance to. Stockpiles of chemicals, explosive devices, and 21,000 counterfeit euros were found in his home. (READ MORE: French Elite Have Done It Again)
Two other suspects were also arrested. One was a 17-year-old who worked for a company providing services at the stadium hosting Taylor Swift. He also appeared to have been radicalized and was already known to the authorities. The other was an 18-year-old Iraqi man who was arrested Thursday evening.
A 15-year-old boy was also questioned by police but not named as a suspect.
The plot was foiled with the help of U.S. intelligence who alerted Austrian authorities to the threat. Austrian authorities likely would not have been able to identify the threat without international cooperation because Austrian law prevents instant messaging apps, which the boys were using to communicate, from being monitored. (READ MORE: Germans Say They’re Fed Up, Nazi Accusations Be Damned)
Although the shows were canceled in Austria, Taylor Swift will still travel to London to perform at Wembley Stadium later this month.
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