3rd person arrested over foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift show in Vienna

A third person has been arrested in connection with the foiled conspiracy to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, Austria’s interior minister said Friday.

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said the 18-year-old, an Iraqi citizen, was taken into custody Thursday evening in Vienna after allegedly being in contact with the main suspect.

Authorities say the main suspect, a 19-year-old, planned to target onlookers gathered outside Ernst Happel Stadium — up to 30,000 each night, with another 65,000 inside the venue — with knives or homemade explosives during the concert on Thursday or Friday. The suspect hoped to “kill as many people as possible,” authorities said.

Swift had been scheduled to play the stadium for three consecutive nights starting Thursday. The shows were cancelled.

The 19-year-old suspect was taken into custody on Tuesday, along with a 17-year-old, officials said. Both are Austrian citizens. A 15-year-old was also interrogated but was not arrested. No names were released, in line with Austrian privacy rules.

Bomb-making materials found at suspect’s home

Authorities say the plot appeared to have been inspired by ISIS, a militant Islamist group, and al-Qaeda. The main suspect and the 18-year-old arrested Thursday evening both pledged “oaths of allegiance” to ISIS, officials said.

Investigators discovered bomb-making materials at the main suspect’s home, as well as ISIS and al-Qaeda material at the 17-year-old’s home. That suspect, who has so far refused to talk, was employed a few days ago by a company providing unspecified services at the venue for the concerts.

Although the 18-year-old swore the oath and “comes from the social environment” of the main suspect, Karner said, he is not directly linked to the plot.

The Austrian Interior Ministry, in a statement Friday to The Associated Press, said “his arrest underscores the broad scope of the ongoing investigation. Authorities are taking decisive action against anyone who might be involved in terrorist activities or exhibits radical tendencies.”

Investigators are scrutinizing the “networks” of the suspects, the statement said, and have turned to evaluating physical and electronic evidence.

Foreign agencies aided investigation

Karner said that Austria’s intelligence service had worked closely with foreign intelligence services. He did not identify the agencies but said the help was needed because Austrian investigators, unlike some foreign services, can’t legally monitor text messages.

The CIA declined to say Thursday whether U.S. intelligence agencies played any role in the investigation. The U.S. State Department and the broader U.S. government have been in contact with Austrian officials about the alleged plot, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

The cancellation of the three sold-out concerts on Wednesday devastated Swifties from across the globe. Many of them had dropped thousands of euros on travel and lodging in Austria’s capital city to attend the Eras Tour shows at the Ernst Happel Stadium.

Swifties consoled each other on social media and in the streets of Vienna, with hundreds gathering on Corneliusgasse. The name of that small street five kilometres from the stadium echoes that of Cornelia Street, a synth-pop track from Swift’s 2019 album Lover.

The fans sang Swift’s top hits, took selfies and traded friendship bracelets hanging from the branches of the only tree on the street.

Austrian chancellor defends cancellation

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer defended the decision to cancel the concerts, saying the arrests of the suspects took place too close to the shows, scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

“I understand very well that those who wanted to experience the concert live are very sad,” Nehammer told a news conference Thursday. “Moms and dads are looking after their daughters and sons, who were full of enthusiasm and anticipation for this concert. But it’s also important that in such serious moments as now, it’s inevitable that safety comes first.”

Concert organizer Barracuda Music said in an Instagram post late Wednesday that it had “no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety.”

Barracuda said all tickets would be refunded. The same message was posted under the Vienna dates on Swift’s official website.

London shows to go ahead

Swift is also scheduled to perform at London’s Wembley Stadium in five concerts between Aug. 15 and 20 to close the European leg of her record-setting Eras Tour.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that while he understood Vienna’s reasons for cancelling, “We’re going to carry on.” Khan said the capital’s authorities were prepared for shows there following lessons learned from a 2017 attack by a suicide bomber at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people.

In Toronto, where Swift is set to play six shows in November, Mayor Olivia Chow has said that the city’s police force is meeting regularly with various groups ahead of the concerts, and she has voiced confidence that the Toronto leg of the Eras tour will be safe.

Last month, an attacker in England killed three girls and wounded 10 people in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class. Swift at the time said she was “completely in shock” over the violence.

Swift has not spoken publicly about the plot or cancelled shows. “Taylor Nation,” a verified Instagram page widely believed to be run by her team, reposted the announcement from Barracuda Music in a “story,” which is only visible for 24 hours. Her main account has not posted anything.

A representative for Swift did not respond to AP’s multiple requests for comment this week.

Shiraz Maher, an expert on Islamic extremism with the department of war studies at King’s College London, said in a statement to AP that attackers “prioritize casualties and therefore choose soft targets where they know large numbers of people will be congregating.”