Austrian teen arrested with chemicals in plot to attack Taylor Swift concert

Austria has discovered chemicals at the residence of a 19-year-old terrorism suspect who was allegedly plotting an attack on a Taylor Swift concert.

The suspect, identified as having North Macedonian roots, had been planning a significant attack on one of Swift’s performances, and the search of his home revealed concrete evidence of his intentions.

Frankz Ruf, the general director for public security in Austria, revealed the details in a conversation with radio station, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

The suspect, who had previously sworn allegiance to the radical Islamic State group, was working closely with a 17-year-old Austrian accomplice. Both individuals are now under investigation as part of a broader probe into a small group of suspects. Ruf highlighted that while the investigation into their network is ongoing, the threat level has been significantly reduced due to the arrests.

Swift’s planned three concerts in Vienna, expected to draw a total of 195,000 fans, were abruptly cancelled on Wednesday following warnings from the government about a potential attack. The cancellation came after police detained three individuals suspected of being involved in the attack plot.

The investigation revealed that the 19-year-old suspect had engaged in specific preparatory actions. During a search of his residence in Ternitz, a town near the Hungarian border, authorities discovered chemical substances and technical equipment. The Vienna-based newspaper, citing sources familiar with the case, reported that the suspect had stolen the chemicals from his workplace and used them to construct a bomb. The suspect had also planned to drive a vehicle into the crowd at the concert venue and had considered using machetes and knives as additional weapons.

Austria’s interior ministry and intelligence services have not yet provided detailed comments on the situation or the specifics of the report.

The concerts were set to be part of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which began on March 17, 2023, in Glendale, Arizona, and is scheduled to conclude on December 8, 2024, in Vancouver, Canada. Despite the disruptions, Swift has not yet addressed the cancellations publicly on her official Instagram account, which has a massive following of 283 million.