Taylor Swift concert attack plot leads to terrorism charges against 21-year-old man

VIENNA: Austrian public prosecutors filed terrorism-related charges Monday (Feb 16) against a 21-year-old defendant who they say planned to carry out an attack on one of superstar singer Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna in August 2024.

Vienna public prosecutors said in a statement that the unnamed defendant had declared allegiance to the Islamic State group by sharing propaganda material and videos via various messaging services.

Vienna prosecutors also accuse the defendant of having “obtained instructions on the internet for the construction of a shrapnel bomb based on the explosive triacetone triperoxide” typically used by IS, and of having produced a small amount of the explosive.

Prosecutors also say that the defendant had made “several attempts” to buy weapons illegally outside the country and to bring them to Austria.

Vienna public prosecutors plan to proceed with a criminal case against the unnamed suspect in Wiener Neustadt, a town near the Austrian capital.

The spokesperson for the Vienna public prosecutors office confirmed to The Associated Press that the defendant is in custody. Austrian media identified the suspect as Beran A. and said he was arrested in August 2024.