An Austrian court has convicted a 21-year-old man of plotting a terror attack on Taylor Swift’s 2024 Eras Tour concerts in Vienna.
The plot was stopped before it could be carried out, but Austrian authorities cancelled all three of Swift’s sold-out Vienna shows over safety concerns.
The man, referred to as “Beran A”, pleaded guilty to the main charges, including planning the attack and being a member of an IS-linked terrorist organisation.
Here’s what you need to know.
Background
Swift was scheduled to play three sold-out shows at Vienna’s Ernst-Happel-Stadion in August 2024, in what would have been her first-ever concerts in Austria.
The day before the first show, Austrian intelligence arrested a man after a tip-off from the CIA. Authorities cancelled all three concerts, citing public safety concerns.
Swift later said the cancellations were “devastating” and that the reason for them filled her with “a new sense of fear”.
Charges
Beran, who was 19 at the time, was charged with obtaining online instructions to build a shrapnel bomb, and attempting to illegally buy a machine gun and a hand grenade.
From May 2023 until his arrest, he communicated with IS members in chat groups, shared videos on Snapchat inciting violence against non-believers, and sent propaganda across multiple messaging services.
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Australia lists IS as a terrorist group. It is not affiliated with any mainstream Islamic organisation.
Prosecutors alleged Beran had been plotting with two school friends, known as Arda K. and Hasan E., though neither was charged in connection with the concert attack.
In March 2024, the three planned simultaneous attacks in Mecca, Dubai and Istanbul.
Beran and Arda K. both pulled out of their attacks. Hasan E. stabbed a security official at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, injuring four others, and was arrested in Saudi Arabia.
Because of this, Beran was also charged with contributing to attempted murder, on top of the charges related to the concert plot.
Trial
At the opening of the trial last month, Beran pleaded guilty to charges relating to the concert plot.
In his final words to the court before it considered a verdict, he said: “I would just like to say that I am sorry.”
He also apologised directly to Swifties in court, saying they were “wonderful kind-hearted women”.
In Austria, a guilty plea doesn’t automatically result in a conviction. The court still hears the case and delivers its own verdict.
