A 21-year-old Austrian man pleaded guilty Tuesday to plotting an ISIS-inspired attack on Taylor Swift’s three sold-out Eras Tour shows in Vienna in August 2024.
On the opening day of his trial in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, the defendant — identified in court only as Beran A. under the nation’s privacy rules — also admitted to belonging to a terror cell. However, he pleaded not guilty to separate charges tied to planned attacks across the Middle East, according to the BBC.
Austrian police arrested Beran A. on Aug. 7, 2024, one day before Swift was scheduled to play her first show at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium. “My client has caused a great deal of fear and panic among many people, and he will have to answer for that, no question,” the defendant’s lawyer, Anna Mair reportedly told the court. “But please try to look beyond the headlines.”
Officials revealed in 2024 that they had prevented the attack, but Swift’s concerts were were still canceled. When Austrian authorities raided Beran A.’s home before the first show, they recovered what prosecutors described in court as a nearly finished bomb. According to the indictment, the defendant prepared for the attack for at least a month, following ISIS instructional videos.
Authorities said in 2024 that Beran A.’s aim was to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue.”
A second man, a 21-year-old identified as Arda K., is also on trial, accused of being part of a terrorist cell and encouraging the attack. A third alleged member of the cell, Hasan E. is being held in Saudi Arabia, where he allegedly stabbed a security officer at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. A fourth person, a Syrian teenager identified as Mohammed A., was convicted in Germany last year for helping to translate bomb-making material, among other charges. He received an 18-month suspended sentence in juvenile court.
In the wake of the cancellations, Swift stayed silent on the matter until the European leg of her tour wrapped. She later explained that she didn’t want to provoke anyone who might wish her fans harm. In an Instagram message, she called the cancellations devastating but said she was thankful to authorities. In the opening installment of her Disney+ documentary, Swift revealed more about the impact of the attempted attack. “Never in my life did I think we would have a terrorist plot,” she said. “We dodged a massacre.”
