While distraught fans enchanted Vienna with friendship bracelet exchanges and street singing of Taylor Swift songs, Austrian officials on Friday revealed the apprehension of a third person about the thwarted plot to target three of the pop star’s now-canceled performances.
During the event on Thursday or Friday, the main suspect, a 19-year-old, intended to use homemade explosives or knives to target concertgoers gathered outside Ernst Happel Stadium, which can hold up to 30,000 people per night. An additional 65,000 people were expected inside the venue. According to authorities, the suspect wanted to “kill as many people as possible.”
Along with a 17-year-old, he was brought into jail on Tuesday, according to officials. They are both citizens of Austria.
The interior minister stated at an unrelated news conference that the third suspect, an 18-year-old Iraqi national, was taken into custody on Thursday night.
Although she was questioned, a 15-year-old was not taken into custody. By Austrian privacy laws, their names were kept a secret.
Swift is still scheduled to wrap up the European leg of her record-breaking Eras Tour with five shows at London’s Wembley Stadium between August 15 and August 20.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan declared, “We’re going to carry on,” even though he understood Vienna’s cancellation.
Nevertheless, there were similarities between the Vienna plot and the 2017 suicide bomber assault that claimed 22 lives at an Ariana Grande performance in Manchester, England. Thousands of young admirers were exiting Grande’s concert when the bomb went off, making it the deadliest extremist assault to occur in the UK in recent memory.
Coldplay is expected to perform four nights at the same Vienna stadium later this month.
Authorities said the scheme was inspired by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida. The main suspect, as well as the 18-year-old arrested Friday, pledged “an oath of allegiance” to the Islamic State group.
Austrian authorities have arrested a 17-year-old suspect in connection with a terrorist plot involving Taylor Swift’s concerts. The suspect, who has not spoken, was employed by a company providing unspecified services at the venue. The Austrian Interior Ministry said the arrest underscores the broad scope of the ongoing investigation and is taking decisive action against anyone involved in terrorist activities or who exhibits radical tendencies. The investigation is scrutinizing the “networks” of the suspects and evaluating physical and electronic evidence.
Shiraz Maher, an expert on Islamic extremism with the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, said that attackers prioritize casualties and choose soft targets where large numbers of people will be congregating. Concert organizer Barracuda Music canceled the three-night Eras Tour run due to the arrests being too close to showtime.
Swift fans consoled each other on social media and in the streets of Vienna, where hundreds gathered on Corneliusgasse, a small street just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the stadium. Huiyeon Kim, 22, took a 14-hour flight from South Korea to Vienna for the concert and called the cancellation “so disappointing.”
Younger fans and their parents discovered references to Swift’s songs among souvenirs in the Vienna Zoo. Swift has not spoken publicly about the plot or canceled shows.
(AP)
