Three concerts of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Vienna, Austria, on August 8-10 were canceled due to terrorist attacks. Franz Ruf, director general of public safety at the Austrian Interior Ministry, said that although two suspects were arrested, authorities could not yet guarantee absolute safety.
According to the New York Post , all three shows were sold out, and canceling them would mean a huge loss for Taylor and her crew, in the millions of dollars. However, given the seriousness of the incident, the organizers had no choice but to put human life first.
The move was not far-fetched as the two teenage suspects had planned to drive a car packed with bombs into a crowd to kill as many people as possible.
On August 8, Austrian security officials said the two suspects were both very young. The ringleader was a 19-year-old Austrian of North Macedonian descent. When police raided his home, they found a number of chemicals and technical equipment. The terrorist is believed to have made progress in building a bomb that he planned to attach to a car.
Meanwhile, the second suspect is an Austrian citizen of Turkish and Croatian descent, only 17 years old. He was arrested by special police forces near the Ernst Happel Stadium, where Taylor was scheduled to perform three nights.
According to authorities, the man was recruited by the company providing services at the concert venue a few days in advance. Sources told the German news agency Kurier that the second suspect was assigned to guard the stadium.
Mr Ruf said the two suspects had noticeable changes in behaviour before their arrest. The older man had quit his job on July 25 and told people he had “big plans”. The other had just broken up with his girlfriend.
Both were in contact with others who appeared to have knowledge of the terrorist plans. A 15-year-old boy was taken in for questioning on August 7 but it is unclear whether he was arrested.
Investigators said Austrian authorities had identified the two men as potential threats early on and placed them under surveillance before arresting them. They had been radicalized online.
The ringleader had recently pledged allegiance to the leader of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS). Authorities also found numerous documents related to IS and al Qaeda in the 17-year-old’s home.
Security officials said the two suspects were influenced by IS ideology and thought it was right to kill infidels. According to the main suspect, they wanted to kill fans with homemade explosives and machetes.
The names of the two terrorists have not been released due to Austrian secrecy laws.
The Fortnight hitmaker’s three shows were expected to attract 195,000 people. It is not yet clear which concert the attempted attack was planned for.
“The situation is very serious. But we can say a tragedy has been averted,” Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said on August 8.
Earlier, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer wrote on X that the announcement by event organizer Barracuda Music to cancel the Taylor Swift show had left all fans in Austria disappointed. According to him, the terrorist plot in Vienna was determined to be serious, fortunately thanks to the close cooperation between the police and intelligence agencies both domestically and internationally, the threat could be recognized early, resolved and the tragedy prevented.
Austrian Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler also offered words of encouragement to Taylor’s fans: “For many, a dream was shattered today (August 7). Over three evenings in Vienna, tens of thousands of Swifties should have come together to celebrate life. I’m sorry you missed it. The Swift community is united, and hate and terror cannot destroy that.”
Taylor Swift has yet to publicly comment on the show cancellation or the terrorist threat.
