Not even a full day after Taylor Swift‘s Vienna, Austria Eras Tour concerts were canceled, we are now learning more about the terror plot that authorities just barely thwarted prior to the shows.
According to the Associated Press citing Austrian authorities on the matter, the two men arrested in the foiled terror attack plot in Vienna were inspired by the Islamic State group Al Qaeda. Investigators discovered bomb-making materials at one of their homes in preparation for it. Then, when interrogated, investigators said the pair confessed to wanting to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue.”
So scary.
All three of Swift’s forthcoming concerts in Vienna were canceled because of the attack plot. Per officials, the main suspect in the would-be attacks is a 19-year-old Austrian who began working out a plan for the terror back in July. A few weeks ago, he uploaded an oath of allegiance on the internet that was directed at the current leader of the Islamic State group militia, which caught authorities’ attention. In the attack, he planned to use either knives or homemade explosives to wreak havoc, per cops.
Related: Is Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour Going To Be Fully CANCELLED???
Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of Austria’s Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, said:
“He wanted to carry out an attack in the area outside the stadium, killing as many people as possible using the knives or even using the explosive devices he had made. … He was clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels.”
Per Austria’s interior minister Gerhard Karner, the foiled attack was being planned for either the Thursday or Friday night shows.
Austrian authorities raided the main suspect’s home in the city of Ternitz, just south of Vienna, this week. During the raid, they found both chemical substances and technical devices, the combination of which indicate “concrete preparatory acts” to commit terror, per Franz Ruf, who serves as the Director General for Public Security at Austria’s Ministry of the Interior.
The second suspect is described as a 17-year-old Austrian man. Horrifically, he was employed right up until a few days ago by a company contracted to provide security services at the very venue where the concerts were to have taken place.
Neither one of the teenagers has been named after their arrests, per Austrian privacy rules. And no other suspects are being sought at this time, though cops have interrogated at least one more teenager on the matter, per the AP. Karner added:
“The situation was serious, the situation is serious. But we can also say: A tragedy was prevented.”
Thank goodness…
Of course, this follows the horrific attacks last month at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class in England, in which an attacker killed three little girls and wounded ten other people in a knife-wielding rampage.
More than 170,000 fans had been expected to show up for Taylor’s Vienna concerts prior to their cancellation. As for Swift herself, from here, she’s starting a series of five concerts next Wednesday at London’s Wembley Stadium to close out the European leg of her Eras Tour.
We are so thankful that Austrian intelligence services were able to foil this horrible plot before it was carried out. We can’t even imagine…
If you’re experiencing emotional distress related to incidents of mass violence, you can call or text the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990 or visit their website at https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/disaster-distress-helpline for more resources.
[Image via MEGA/WENN]
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