By Sarah Maslin Nir and Christopher F. Schuetze
Less than 24 hours after the arrest of two teenagers who Austrian authorities say planned to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, security officials outlined a picture of a terrorist assault designed to kill as many people as possible.
Barracuda Music, the promoter for the singer’s three-concert Vienna run, canceled the gigs Wednesday night. The events, which were scheduled to start Thursday, had been expected to draw more than 200,000 fans from across the world.
The main suspect is a 19-year-old man who was radicalized online and swore an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State group, Franz Ruf, the head of public safety in Austria, said at a news conference Thursday. Ruf said the suspect had confessed to the plans shortly after being arrested, giving police a detailed insight into his intended acts, which included using explosives and weapons to kill as many concert attendees as possible.
Searching the man’s home, where he lived with his parents, police found explosives, timers, machetes and knives, Ruf said.
A 17-year-old suspected of being an accomplice was known to the police and had recently started a job for an events service provider that was working at the Ernst Happel Stadium, where Swift was scheduled to play. He was arrested Wednesday at the stadium, Ruf said.
A 15-year-old boy who was also brought in for questioning confirmed many details of the main suspect’s confession, Ruf said, adding that police believed the boy was not an active participant in the plot, but knew of its details.
With the suspects in custody, Ruf said there was no longer an imminent threat.
Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the director of Austria’s domestic intelligence agency, distanced himself from the promoter’s decision to cancel the concerts, saying that although his agency understood the decision, it had never pushed for a cancellation.
Gerhard Karner, Austria’s interior minister, said “the situation was serious,” noting that Austria had been on a heightened terrorism response level since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel. “The danger from Islamist extremism in Europe has increased significantly following the terrible terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel,” he said.
Concerts have been the targets of attacks elsewhere in Europe in recent years. In 2015, three gunmen attacked a concert venue in Paris, killing more than 90 people and wounding hundreds. In 2017, a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, killed 22 people. And in March, four men attacked a concert venue in Moscow, killing more than 100. All three of those attacks were carried out by men who were inspired by or linked to the Islamic State.
Swift’s fans were also targeted in an attack in England last week, when three children died in a stabbing during a dance class themed around the singer. A teenage boy was arrested in connection with the assault.
Next week, the singer’s global tour is scheduled to begin a run of five sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium, a 90,000-capacity arena in London.
Neither Wembley Stadium nor AEG Presents, the promoter for the tour’s British dates, immediately responded to emails asking about how the events in Austria would affect those shows. But a spokesperson for London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement that there was “nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London.”
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