Taylor Swift Terror Plot Suspect Recently Got A Job Working Concerts At The Stadium
Three Taylor Swift concerts scheduled for Vienna’s Ernst-Happel-Stadion this week were canceled after Austrian authorities arrested two young men who’d been plotting a terrorist attack at one of the shows. Today, further details about the situation have emerged.
As reported previously, the main suspect in the case is a 19-year-old who has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State. Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, told the AP that the suspect confessed that the plan was to kill as many people as possible outside the stadium by driving a car into the crowd and then attacking with knives or homemade bombs. During a raid of his home in Ternitz south of Vienna, investigators found chemicals and devices that constitute “concrete preparatory acts,” per Franz Ruf, Director General for Public Security at the Ministry of the Interior.
The other suspect is a 17-year-old boy from Vienna who, per authorities, had Islamic State group and al-Qaida material at his home. He recently got a job with a company that provides services at the stadium during concerts. He was at the stadium when he was arrested Wednesday. Authorities also questioned a 15-year-old boy who they believe was not a participant in the plot but knew of its details.
After the cancellation of the concerts, Austria’s Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler wrote on Twitter, “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.”
Today, in the absence of a concert to attend, Swift fans gathered in the streets of Vienna to sing songs together and trade friendship bracelets: