Further details have been released concerning the August 7 arrest of a 19-year-old Austrian with North Macedonia roots, along with a 17-year-old Austrian with Turkish and Croatian roots. The two were arrested in connection with a planned terror attack on one of three Taylor Swift concerts scheduled for Ernst Happel (soccer) Stadium in Vienna. The concerts were to be held August 8 through 10, with an estimated 170,000 combined attendance for all three shows. Authorities canceled all three concerts as a precaution.
Karl Nehammer, Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria, stated on Twitter:
Die Absage der Taylor Swift Konzerte durch die Veranstalter ist für alle Fans in Österreich eine herbe Enttäuschung. Die Situation rund um den offenbar geplanten Terroranschlag in Wien war sehr ernst. Dank der intensiven Zusammenarbeit unserer Polizei und dem neu aufgebauten DSN…
— Karl Nehammer (@karlnehammer) August 7, 2024
It read (translated):
The cancellation of the Taylor Swift concerts by the organizers is a bitter disappointment for all fans in Austria. The situation surrounding the apparently planned terrorist attack in Vienna was very serious. Thanks to the intensive cooperation of our police and the newly established DSN with foreign services, the threat was recognized early, combated and a tragedy prevented. Many thanks to the emergency services who are currently investigating at full speed. We live in a time in which violent means are being used to attack our western way of life. Islamist terrorism threatens security and freedom in many western countries. This is precisely why we will not give up our values such as freedom and democracy, but will defend them even more vehemently. These values are the foundation of our society and make us resilient against extremism and terrorism. It is important to remain vigilant, stand together and take decisive action against Islamism.
Nehammer elaborated in a subsequent X thread:
We live in a time in which there are forces that want to fight our joy of life and our freedom with terrorist means. I can understand that many who have been looking forward to these concerts for a long time are now sad. But safety comes first and a tragedy was prevented.
The suspects had very concrete and detailed plans to create a tragedy here like the ones in Paris, Manchester or Moscow.The main perpetrator confessed that he and two accomplices wanted to carry out a suicide attack. He had acquired explosives and weapons. It is unimaginable what devastating consequences this would have had. It would have meant numerous deaths and injuries.
My special thanks go to the intelligence services, the authorities and the emergency services, who are currently investigating at full speed and have been able to arrest the accused.
We will not give up our values such as freedom and democracy, but will defend them even more resolutely. These values are the foundation of our society and make us resilient against extremism and terrorism. It is important to remain vigilant, stand together and take decisive action against Islamism.
Austrian law enforcement has provided an update on additional discoveries following the arrests, according to the Fox story linked above:
One of the suspects arrested in an alleged plot to attack now-canceled Taylor Swift concerts in Austria this week had chemical substances and technical devices at his home, officials have revealed.
That individual, a 19-year-old Austrian with North Macedonian roots, was “clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels,” Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, said on Thursday. The suspect quit his job on July 25 and made the statement “that he still had big plans.”
Haijawi-Pirchner continued, sharing what the 19-year-old suspect said during a full confession:
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.
The report continued:
The 19-year-old had downloaded manuals for bomb making and investigators found homemade explosives, detonators and hydrogen peroxide at his residence in Ternitz, south of Vienna, NBC News quoted Haijawi-Pirchner as saying.
The foiled attack comes hard on the heels of riots that have roiled England since the July 29 mass murder of girls at a Taylor Swift dance party by the teenage son of Rwandan immigrants. Ironically, Swift’s concerts scheduled for the United Kingdom on August 15 through 20, 2024, are proceeding as planned. London is the final stop on the European leg of Swift’s tour.
As referenced by Chancellor Nehammer, the planned attack follows, unfortunately, successful ones against concerts in Europe in recent years. In November 2015, as part of a series of terrorist attacks in and around Paris, Islamist extremists attacked the Bataclan theater in Paris during an Eagles of Death Metal concert, murdering 91 and wounding over 200. In May 2017, a suicide bombing following an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, killed 22 people and wounded over 1,000. In March 2024, Islamic terrorists attacked a concert hall in a Moscow suburb, killing 145 and wounding over 550, with an additional 95 listed as “missing.”
While it is tempting to make jokes along the lines of Austria being able to save themselves the expense of a trial by throwing the two suspects into a room filled with Swifties and yelling that these are the ones responsible for you not getting to see the concert, the sobering truth is this should illustrate to even the whiniest liberal wine mom in training there is evil in the world … and it’s not the Republicans. There are people who hate you enough to plan to kill you because of your favorite singer. No one can simply shake it off. Satan is alive and living in the hearts of people willing to die in the name of their false god.
