Man sentenced to 15 years in prison for plotting to attack a Taylor Swift concert

By Adegboyega Adeleye

An Austrian court has sentenced a 21‑year‑old man to 15 years in prison for planning a jihadist attack on a Taylor Swift concert during her Eras Tour in Vienna.

The defendant, whose name is withheld under Austrian privacy laws and is identified only as Beran A., was convicted on several terrorism‑related charges after admitting that he had plotted the attack before Swift’s scheduled shows in August 2024.

International media reported that the suspect was arrested on 7 August 2024, one day before the first of three sold‑out concerts at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium.

Authorities said the planned attack was foiled after a CIA tip‑off, leading to the immediate cancellation of all three concerts and leaving nearly 200,000 fans disappointed.

During the trial in Wiener Neustadt, south of Vienna, Beran A. pleaded guilty to the charges and apologized before sentencing.

“I would just like to say that I am sorry,” he told the court.

Prosecutors said the suspect had become radicalised and pledged allegiance to the extremist group Islamic State, IS.

The court heard that he had tried to acquire illegal weapons, including a machine gun and a hand grenade, and had studied how to make explosives from an IS‑linked video titled “Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom.”

Investigators also revealed that he produced a quantity of triacetone triperoxide, TATP, an explosive substance commonly associated with terror attacks.

Court psychiatrist Peter Hoffmann testified that the defendant showed no signs of mental illness, stating there was “no psychiatric explanation” for his radicalisation.

The suspect reportedly intended to target concertgoers with knives and homemade explosives outside the stadium during Swift’s performance.

Another defendant, Arda K., was sentenced to 12 years in prison for related terrorism offences connected to the same extremist network.

Following the foiled attack, Taylor Swift described the cancellation of the Vienna concerts as “devastating,” admitting that the incident left her with “a new sense of fear.”

“I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives,” Swift wrote on Instagram after the incident.

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