An Austrian court on Thursday convicted a man of planning to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna nearly two years ago. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The state court in Wiener Neustadt, south of the capital, found the 21-year-old defendant, an Austrian citizen known only as Beran A. in line with Austrian privacy rules, guilty on multiple charges including those related to the concert.
The concert plot was thwarted, but Austrian authorities still canceled Swift’s three performances in August 2024.
His defense attorney said Beran A. admitted to the charges related to the concert plot during the opening day of the trial last month.
In brief final words to the court before it adjourned to consider a verdict on Thursday, Beran A. said: “I would just like to say that I am sorry.”
Beran A. allegedly planned to target people outsidethe Ernst Happel Stadium with knives or homemade explosives. Tens of thousands of Taylor Swift fans, known as Swifties, had traveled to Austria to attend the performances of the American singer’s record-setting Eras Tour. Devastated by the cancellations, many gathered in central Vienna to trade friendship bracelets and commiserate.
Beran A. also allegedly networked with members of the Islamic State group ahead of the planned attack. Prosecutors have said they discussed purchasing weapons and making bombs, and that the defendant also sought to illegally buy weapons in the days ahead of the performance, as well as swearing allegiance to the militant group.
Authorities searched his apartment on Aug. 7, 2024, and found bomb-making materials. The concerts were scheduled to begin the next day.
“Having our Vienna shows canceled was devastating,” Swift wrote in a statement posted to Instagram two weeks later. “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows.”
He was tried alongside Arda K., another 21-year-old whose full name also has not been made public. They, along with a third man, Hasan E., who was arrested and remains in pretrial detention in Saudi Arabia, allegedly planned to carry out simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates during Ramadan 2024 in the name of IS.
Only Beran A. was charged in connection with the concert plot. The two defendants were found guilty of charges including traveling and training for terrorist purposes, and being part of a terrorist organization, the Austria Press Agency reported.
The court also found the pair guilty of contributing to attempted murder, a charge linked to Hasan E.’s alleged stabbing of a security officer in Mecca in March 2024. Hasan E. also attacked and wounded three other officers and a woman before he was arrested, according to prosecutors.
Beran A. and Arda K. did not carry out their alleged plans in the UAE and Turkey. Beran A. returned to Vienna and later allegedly began plotting to attack the Swift concert there.
Arda K. was given a 12-year sentence. The two men listened stoically to the verdict and the sentencing, APA reported.
Beran A.’s lawyer, Anna Mair, said after the verdict that she would discuss with her client in the coming days whether to accept the verdict.
Source: AP
—Agencies
