Taylor Swift Concerts Canceled After Foiled ISIS Plot in Vienna

Foiled ISIS Plot Against Taylor Swift Concerts

Three Tay­lor Swift shows on the Euro­pean leg of her Eras tour have been can­celed in Vien­na, Aus­tria, after police nar­row­ly thwart­ed an ISIS plot to attack the con­certs. The sold-out shows, sched­uled for Thurs­day, Fri­day, and Sat­ur­day, were called off for every­one’s safety.

Suspects Arrested and Explosives Found

A 19-year-old Aus­tri­an nation­al was arrest­ed dur­ing a police raid on his par­ents’ home in Ter­nitz, just south of Vien­na. A sec­ond sus­pect was appre­hend­ed lat­er in the after­noon. The bomb squad found var­i­ous chem­i­cals and sub­stances poten­tial­ly being used to make explo­sives in the home.

Targets of the Plot

The sus­pects were alleged­ly tar­get­ing Swift’s con­certs at Vien­na’s Ernst Hap­pel Sta­di­um, where she was sched­uled to perform. 

Author­i­ties said the sus­pects were “focused on the Tay­lor Swift con­certs” and were tak­ing action to pre­pare for the attack.

Increased Security and Ongoing Investigation

Secu­ri­ty plans have been increased at the con­certs, but author­i­ties have not yet declared the events entire­ly safe and are still inves­ti­gat­ing oth­er poten­tial accomplices. 

The 19-year-old sus­pect is believed to have pledged alle­giance to ISIS in July and become rad­i­cal­ized online.

Previous Attacks on Concerts

This is not the first time Islam­ic extrem­ists have tar­get­ed a pop con­cert. In 2017, 22 peo­ple were killed in a bomb­ing at an Ari­ana Grande con­cert in Man­ches­ter, England. 

More recent­ly, three girls were killed in a knife attack at a Tay­lor Swift-themed dance class in South­port, England.