A Syrian teenager has been charged in connection with assisting in planning an attack at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concerts in Vienna last August via PEOPLE.
The suspect, who has been identified as Mohammad A., has been accused of supporting a foreign terrorist organization and preparing a serious act of violence, as per a press release by Germany’s prosecutor general on Friday, June 27th, which was translated from German.
“Mohammad A has adhered to the ideology of the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) since April 2024 at the latest,” the statement read.
The statement from authorities further noted that, “Between mid-July and August 2024, he was in contact with a young Austrian who was planning a bomb attack on a concert by singer Taylor Swift in Vienna.”
According to the statement, he is accused of assisting by translating instructions for building bombs from Arabic and facilitating online communication with a member of ISIS, among other activities. He also allegedly provided the Austrian with the text for an oath of allegiance to ISIS, which the individual used to join the group. Notably, the suspect is not currently in custody.
On August 28th, a CIA official informed reporters that the thwarted terrorist plot, which led Swift, to cancel all three of his scheduled shows, was intended to kill tens of thousands of people.
“The Austrians were able to make those arrests because the agency and our partners in the intelligence community provided them information about what this ISIS-connected group was planning to do,” CIA Deputy Director David S. Cohen said during the annual Intelligence Summit just outside Washington, D.C., per The New York Times and NBC News.
Barracuda Music, a concert promoter, announced the cancellation on August 7th, and noted that they had “no choice but to cancel” the August 8th, 9th and 10th performances to prioritize safety for attendees.
At the time, three people were arrested, including the then-19-year-old Austrian, who’s the main suspect. The other arrested suspects are a 17-year-old Austrian and an 18-year-old Iraqi. The suspects’ names have not been released and authorities previously said the plot was inspired by the Islamic State group, per the Associated Press.
