Three Taylor Swift concerts in Austria were canceled by organizers on Wednesday, following the arrest of two people who allegedly plotted a terrorist attack in Vienna, authorities said. Swift was scheduled to perform at the Ernst Happel Stadium on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in her next stops on the Eras Tour.
In a statement posted on Instagram, concert organizers Barracuda Music informed fans that the shows were being canceled, saying government officials had confirmed the threat of a planned 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,” Barracuda Music wrote in the statement.
A similar statement was posted on the ticketing website, which shares that ticket holders will be automatically refunded within 10 business days.
On Thursday, Austrian authorities said that one of the two suspects who was arrested confessed to planning the attack, the Associated Press reports. “He wanted to carry out an attack in the area outside the stadium, killing as many people as possible using the knives or even using the explosive devices he had made,” said Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence.
The man, who lived with his parents in Ternitz, located south of Vienna, is said to have pledged “an oath of allegiance” to ISIS, Vienna State Police Director Franz Ruf told reporters during a press conference on Wednesday.
The AP reports that the man had been planning the attack since July and had planned to use knives of homemade explosives. In a raid of his home in Ternitz, police found chemical substances and technical devices that Ruf said signaled "concrete preparatory acts." Haijawi-Pirchner said Thursday that he was "clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels."
Authorities arrested a second person in Vienna and said they found “Islamic State group and al-Qaida material" in his home. The second suspect, a 17-year-old Austrian, worked for “a company providing services at the venue for the concerts” and was arrested near the stadium by police. He has not yet spoken about the allegations against him to the authorities, according to the AP.
A third person was arrested in connection with the thwarted attack on Thursday night, Austrian authorities said. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told reporters at a press conference that the third person was an 18-year-old Iraqi citizen who was found to be in contact with the main suspect.
“He had been in contact with the main perpetrator but is not directly connected to the attack plans,” Karner said during the press conference. “But, as was found out a few days ago, he took an oath of allegiance specifically to the IS on Aug. 6.”
In a post on X, the Chancellor of the Republic of Austria, Karl Nehammer, called the concert cancellation a "bitter disappointment" for fans in Austria. He added that the planned attack was "very serious" and that because of cooperation between the police and government officials, “a tragedy was prevented.”
Swift is still set to perform for five nights at Wembley Stadium in London, from Aug. 15-20, following the cancellations in Vienna. Variety reports that the singer’s team and the concert promoter are working together to enhance security measures. “Clearly, the police will be looking at all the intelligence and making decisions, they risk assess every event that happens in this country, and that’s something for the police,” Diana Johnson, the UK’s policing minister, said in a statement on LBC Radio, referring to the security measures being taken ahead of Swift’s London dates.
A man was arrested last week in Kansas City after “making a terroristic threat” at a Morgan Wallen concert who seemed to have made threatening comments directed at Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes who were at the concert and seen hanging out with Wallen. The concert was delayed for 45 minutes.
Swift has not yet made a public statement about the terrorist threat at her concerts or the cancellation of her shows.
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