A 17-year-old suspected to be behind a foiled terror plot at a Taylor Swift concert began working at the venue just days before, officials said as they revealed chemical substances had been found at another teen suspect’s home.
The pop-star was forced to cancel her upcoming shows after Austrian law enforcement officers arrested two people suspected of planning a major attack at one of her sold-out performances.
The main suspect, a 19-year-old boy, had uploaded an oath of allegiance to the current leader of the Islamic State group militia online and is alleged to have been working with another teenager, who was working at the stadium.
Austria’s general director for public security Frankz Ruf told ORF radio on Thursday that chemical substances and technical devices, showing “concrete preparatory actions”, were found at the 19-year-old’s house in the town of Ternitz.
Both suspects had become radicalized on the internet and had specific plans to carry out an attack, officials said, and investigators are now determining if the substances found could have been used to make an explosive.
Austrian security officials alleged the two young men wanted to commit an attack outside the stadium, killing as many people as possible using knives or self-made explosives.
They told reporters at a press conference in Vienna that the main suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian with North Macedonian roots, fully confessed his attack plans. They said he was “clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels.”
The second suspect was employed a few days ago by a facility company providing services at the venue during the concerts. Investigators said they found extensive material related to the Islamic State group and Al Qaida at his home.
The 19-year-old was arrested in Ternitz, an hour south of the capital, on Wednesday morning while the other man was taken into custody in Vienna hours later.
Austria’s interior ministry and intelligence service were not immediately available for comment on the report’s details, and Reuters was unable to verify it.
Taylor Swift’s performances, which were originally scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, and expected to draw 195,000 people, were cancelled. The move comes after officials initially said the concerts were set to move forward with heightened security.
“We have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety,” management company Barracuda Music said in a statement. “All tickets will be automatically refunded.”
The cancellations devastated Swifties across the globe, many of whom had dropped thousands of euros on travel and lodging in Austria’s expensive capital city for the sold-out Eras Tour shows
Austria’s Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler wrote on social platform X: “For many, a dream has been shattered today. On three evenings in Vienna, tens of thousands of Swifties should have celebrated life together.”
“I am very sorry that you were denied this. Swifties stick together, hate and terror can’t destroy that.”
“I can’t believe the concert I’ve been waiting for over 10 years is now gone. i don’t think i’ll ever get over this,” said one fan on social media. “As disappointing as not being able to go to this concert is TRUST ME u do not want to experience that,” added another.
Taylor Swift has not yet commented on the foiled terror plot, which comes just days after a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed children’s dance class in Southport, England.
The attacker killed three children: six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar. Five other kids and two adults were also seriously injured in the July 29 attack.
Swift paid tribute to the children the next day.
“The horror of yesterday’s attack is washing over me continuously and I’m just completely in shock,” she said in a statement. “The loss of life and innocence and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families and first responders.”
“These were just little kids at a dance class,” she continued. “I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.”