A CIA official has revealed that the agency helped foil an ISIS terrorist attack that aimed to kill “tens of thousands” of fans at Taylor Swift’s concert in Vienna.
Speaking at a summit on intelligence and national security in Maryland on Wednesday, CIA Deputy Director David Cohen said the agency had provided Austrian authorities with crucial information about four individuals linked to the Islamic State group who were planning to attack the concert.
“They were planning to kill a large number, tens of thousands of people at this concert, I’m sure many of them were Americans,” said Cohen, who New York Times.
The official added that some of the arrested individuals were found with bomb-making materials and had direct access to the venue where three Eras Tour shows were scheduled to take place.
The shows, which were scheduled to take place from August 8 to 10 at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna and were to have hosted 200,000 spectators, were quickly canceled after the arrests.
A CIA official revealed that the agency helped foil an ISIS terrorist attack that aimed to kill ‘tens of thousands’ during Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Vienna show
One of the arrested suspects was a 19-year-old ISIS fanatic identified as Beran A. (pictured), who lived in Ternitz, south of Vienna
Beran A. is said to be building a bomb in his parents’ backyard
On August 7, Austrian authorities arrested two people accused of plotting a terrorist attack. More people were arrested in the following days.
Cohen did not clarify what the CIA thought about the planned attack, but said, “I can tell you that there were people within my agency and others who thought this was a very good day for Langley,” referring to CIA headquarters, “and not just for the Swifties at work.”
Three people have been arrested in connection with the terror plot, including 19-year-old Austrian ISIS fanatic Beran A. He had pledged allegiance to Islamic State and targeted Swift’s tour.
He is currently considered the prime suspect.
The other suspects arrested are a 17-year-old Austrian and an 18-year-old Iraqi, but their names have not yet been released.
According to sources in German intelligence, it was revealed that Beran A. was busy building a bomb in his parents’ backyard. Earlier this month, it was reported that the teenager had been radicalized in Berlin by the notorious hate preacher Abul Baraa.
According to the German magazine Profil, Beran A. is said to have attended a trade school in Neunkirchen, where he had to repeat a year and was repeatedly violent towards girls, according to former classmates.
During an argument, he allegedly grabbed a girl his age by the neck and pushed her against the wall.
The main suspect, Beran A, was arrested in his hometown of Ternitz one day before the first show in Vienna on August 7, while another suspect was arrested at the concert venue
The shows, which were due to draw an audience of 200,000 at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium from August 8 to 10, were quickly cancelled following the arrests
Taylor Swift said on Instagram: ‘The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of dread and immense guilt’
Just a year later, a former classmate said he had harassed and groped other girls, after which he “significantly changed his appearance and became isolated.”
It turned out that Beran A. and his accomplice planned to attack Swift’s concert venue by driving into the crowd with knives and machetes and attacking them. They then detonated a suicide bomb to kill as many fans as possible.
Beran A. previously worked in the same stainless steel factory in Ternitz as his father.
He trained as a salesman at the factory and was given access to the factory laboratory, where, among other things, various chemicals were used.
During a raid on the family’s home in Ternitz earlier this month, bomb experts managed to obtain chemicals needed to produce the explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP), which Beran A. has reportedly already experimented with.
TATP is often used by ISIS in terrorist attacks and requires acetone and hydrogen peroxide. Officials say the substance was found in the home.
Taylor Swift fans sing together at Stephansplatz on August 8, 2024 in Vienna, Austria
Following the ordeal, Taylor Swift took to Instagram to share why she initially chose to remain quiet in the days following the shows’ cancellation.
“Having our shows in Vienna cancelled was devastating. The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of dread and a huge amount of guilt because so many people were planning on coming to those shows,” she wrote in a post on August 21.
“But I was also very grateful to the authorities, because thanks to them we mourned for concerts and not for lives.”
The pop star and her team worked closely with British authorities to ensure her five nights at Wembley Stadium in London went smoothly and safely.
“Let me be very clear: I am not going to speak publicly about anything if I think it will provoke people who want to harm the fans who come to my shows,” she continued.
In cases like these, ‘silence’ actually means that you are holding back and waiting to express yourself at the right moment.
“My priority was to complete our European tour safely, and it is with great relief that we have done so.”