In 2024, Austrian police arrested two men who were reportedly planning an attack on Taylor Swift's Eras Tour concerts in Vienna. One of the suspects pledged allegiance to ISIS, and a police bomb squad claimed to find "chemical substances" while arresting. Swift cancelled all three shows for safety reasons after the arrests, and an impromptu Swift fan convention broke out in the city's streets in lieu of the concert. Now, one of those suspects has pleaded guilty to terrorism-related offenses and been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Because of Austrian privacy laws, the suspect is only identified as 21-year-old Beran A, even after conviction. The Guardian reports that Beran A pleaded guilty in a state court on Thursday. While entering the courtroom, he covered his face to avoid being photographed. Beran A reportedly tried to follow the instructions of an Islamic State video titled "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom" to make the explosive triacetone triperoxide. He also tried and failed to illegally buy a machine gun, a hand grenade, and other weapons. He and a school friend were found to have traveled to other cities — he to Dubai, co-defendant Arda K to Istanbul — where they planned to carry out solo attacks. Neither one of them went through with those plans.
In the opening day of his his trial, Beran A testified that he walked around Dubai, looking for victims to stab, but that he abandoned those plans when he had a panic attack. When he returned to Vienna, he was reportedly determined to see his plans through, choosing the Taylor Swift concerts as a target. In a statement to the court, he said, "I would just like to say that I am sorry."
Beran A and Arda K both deny "providing moral support" to a third suspect who's currently being held in Saudi Arabia for charges of stabbing a security guard at Mecca's Grand Mosque, but a jury still found them guilty of those charges. Beran A was found guilty for 13 of his 15 charges. The same jury found Arda K guilty of all of his charges, and he was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
In an Instagram post after finishing the European leg of the Eras tour, Taylor Swift wrote:
Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating. The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows. But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives. I was heartened by the love and unity I saw in the fans who banded together.
