Taylor Swift concert attack plotter sentenced in Vienna

A court in Vienna sentenced 21-year-old Austrian citizen Beran A. to 15 years in prison for planning an attack at a Taylor Swift concert.

Another member of the terrorist cell, Arda K., was sentenced to 12 years in prison, though not for the planned concert attack but for planned attacks in the Middle East, CE Report quotes STA.

According to media reports, the court accepted the prosecution’s claims that in 2024 Beran A. intended to attack concertgoers outside the Ernst Happel Stadium using knives and homemade explosives during a Taylor Swift concert.

Due to the threat, authorities cancelled three sold-out concerts at the time.

During the trial, the defendant pleaded guilty and expressed remorse. The court found him guilty of several terrorism-related offenses, including membership in the extremist group Islamic State.

Co-defendant Arda K. was sentenced to 12 years in prison for involvement in other planned attacks in the Middle East.

According to the indictment, both defendants, together with Hasan E., also planned attacks at three different locations in the Middle East in March 2024.

Hasan E. is imprisoned in Saudi Arabia over a knife attack, while the two men convicted in Austria denied involvement in that act.

Photo: Instagram/taylorswift