Taylor Swift Cancels Eras Tour Concerts in Vienna After Terrorist Plot Thwarted and Arrests Made
UPDATED: Three Taylor Swift shows were canceled on Wednesday in Vienna after two teenagers were initially arrested — followed a few days later by a third — in an ISIS-connected terrorist plot against her upcoming concerts.
In a post from Austrian concert promoter Barracuda Music, organizers wrote, “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Vienna Shows cancelled due to government officials confirmation of planned terrorist attack. With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety.”
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According to international reports, the suspects arrested on Tuesday included a 19-year-old who pledged his allegiance to ISIS and was living with his parents in the town of Ternitz, as well as a 17-year-old. Both were arrested after police raided the 19-year-old’s home and found various chemicals and substances, as well as Islamic State group and al-Qaida material at the 17-year-old’s home. Residents of Ternitz were allegedly evacuated and roads were closed during the raid.
The third arrested person, an 18-year-old Iraqi citizen, was detained on Thursday night. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner shared the news of the subsequent arrest during an unrelated news conference on Friday, stating the young man had sworn the oath to ISIS and “comes from the social environment” of the 19-year-old suspect. Karner stated that the 18-year-old is not directly connected to the plot.
The 19-year-old reportedly started planning the attack in July, and was intending to use knives or homemade explosives. Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence in Vienna, said that the 19-year-old confessed to wanting to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue” on Thursday or Friday.
The target of the attack was Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium, where Swift was scheduled to perform Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights as part of her Eras Tour. A company offering services for the concert venue employed the 17-year-old just a few days before the arrests, and he was detained by special forces near the stadium.
Vienna State Police Director Franz Ruf and Police Chief Gerhard Purstl said during a news conference that both men had become radicalized through the internet and apparently had specific plans on how the attack was to be carried out. Purstl claimed that the concrete danger had been “minimized,” but that an “abstract danger” remained, which prompted the cancellation of the shows. Ticketholders will receive refunds in the next 10 days.
News of the suspected terrorist attack comes just days after a “terroristic threat” delayed Morgan Wallen’s concert in Kansas City on Friday. The man arrested in connection with the threat posted on social media that he was targeting two men who were backstage with Wallen, suggesting those men were Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes.
Swift is currently on the international leg of her Eras Tour, which will continue to London before circling back to Canada. There are no current plans to cancel the London shows, though there will be increased security measures.
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