Austrian Man Jailed 15 Years for Plotting Taylor Swift Concert Attack
The Foiled Attack on Taylor Swift's Concert
An Austrian man who admitted planning a foiled attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of various mainly terrorism-related offences.
The Trial and Charges
The state court in Wiener Neustadt on Thursday found the 21-year-old defendant, an Austrian citizen known only as Beran A – in line with Austrian privacy rules – guilty on charges including those related to the concert.
- Beran A was arrested on 7 August 2024, the day before the first of three planned concerts by the US pop star in the Austrian capital.
- All three dates were then cancelled, to the dismay of fans and Swift, who wrote afterwards that it was “devastating”.
The Planned Attack and Investigation
Beran A pleaded guilty to charges related to the planned attack, which carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He covered his face with a ring binder as he entered the courtroom to avoid being identifiable in pictures.
“I would just like to say that I am sorry,” he said in a final statement after closing arguments on Thursday.
Beran A was found to have tried but failed to illegally buy weapons including a machine gun and hand grenade, and followed instructions in an Islamic State video entitled “Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom” to produce a small amount of the explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP).
The Impact on the Community
Neither Swift nor any of her fans appeared at the trial in Wiener Neustadt, a town south of the capital. The jury, however, found him guilty on all but two of 15 points put to it, including providing moral support to a third man who was arrested in Mecca on suspicion of stabbing a security official at the city’s Grand Mosque.
His lawyer, Anna Mair, repeated that her client did not provide material support to the third man, and if anything it was the other way around.
The Future Outlook
The sentencing of Beran A and his co-defendant Arda K to 12 years in prison highlights the ongoing threat of terrorism and the importance of vigilance in the community.