One of the suspects arrested in connection with an attempted attack on a Taylor Swift concert scheduled for this week in Austria had chemical and technological devices in his home, authorities have said.
The 19-year-old Austrian suspect, of North Macedonian descent, “is clearly inclined towards the Islamic State and believes it is right to kill infidels,” Omar Hajjawi-Pirchner, director of the National Security Intelligence Agency, said on Thursday. The suspect resigned from his job on July 25 and has said he “still has big plans.”
Authorities also said investigators found ISIS and al-Qaida material in the home of a second suspect in the thwarted plot, a 17-year-old Austrian of Turkish and Croatian descent who had recently split up with his girlfriend.
“He intended to carry out the attack outside the stadium and kill as many people as possible using knives and homemade explosives,” Hajjawi Pilchner said, adding that authorities had cited a confession from a 19-year-old man.
Taylor Swift’s Austria show canceled after arrest on terrorism plot suspicion
Police vehicles are seen parked outside the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday, August 8. Taylor Swift’s three-night concert series, scheduled to take place there on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, was canceled after Austrian police said they thwarted an alleged attack on the venue. (Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images)
Swift is due to perform three sold-out shows at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium, starting today, for an estimated 170,000 people. The cancelled shows mean the stadium is empty, but the Metropolitan police say Swift’s UK concerts next week will go ahead as planned.
“The situation surrounding the suspected planned terrorist attack in Vienna is extremely serious,” Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer wrote in a statement on Wednesday, but added that “the threat was recognised early and countered and a tragedy was averted.”
“I am extremely grateful to the emergency services who are currently working at full speed to investigate. We live in a time when violent means are being used to attack the Western way of life,” he said. “Radical Islamist terrorism threatens the security and freedoms of many Western countries.”
Interior Minister Gerhard Kerner said in Vienna on Thursday that following the arrests of the two men, no other suspects were being pursued.
Franz Ruff, head of public security at the Austrian interior ministry, told state broadcaster ORF on Thursday that the 19-year-old suspect uploaded a pledge of allegiance to ISIS to an internet account several weeks ago.
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Taylor Swift performed onstage at the Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany as part of her The Eras Tour on July 27th. (Thomas Niedermueller/TAS24/TAS Copyrighted via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, a 17-year-old suspect was arrested by special police units near the stadium where the concert was due to be held.
He had been hired days earlier by a facilities company that provides services at concert venues, The Associated Press reported, citing an Austrian security official, and investigators said they had found a trove of material linked to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda at his home.
“For everyone’s safety, we have been forced to cancel three scheduled shows,” event organisers Barracuda Music said in an Instagram post.
Swift’s website says all tickets will be automatically refunded over the next 10 business days.
Security guards remove barricades in front of the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday, August 8. (Alex Harada/AFP via Getty Images)
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“Taylor Swift’s Erasu Tour Vienna show has been canceled after government authorities confirmed a terrorist attack plot,” Barracuda posted on Instagram on Wednesday. “Due to government authorities confirming a terrorist attack plot at the Ernst Happel Stadium, we are forced to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety.”
Fox News’ Tracy Wright and Daniel Wallace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
