BREAKING NEWSTaylor Swift Terror Plot: Third Teen Arrested in Connection to Foiled Attack at Austria Concert After Pledging Allegiance to ISIS
A third teenager was arrested in connection to the planned terror attack at Taylor Swift's Austria show.
A third teenager was arrested in connection to a "bloodbath" terror plot aimed to strike a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, Austria.
The teen suspects were arrested for plotting an ISIS-style terror attack at one of Taylor Swift’s Austrian concerts.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner shared that the 18-year-old Iraqi national was apprehended after authorities discovered his communication with the alleged ringleader involved in the sinister scheme.
Karner clarified that the teenager was not directly linked to the attack plans but had sworn allegiance to ISIS on August 6.
The arrested suspect had close ties to the main perpetrator, a 19-year-old Austrian with North Macedonian roots, who was detained earlier in the week along with another 17-year-old Austrian citizen.
Their plan was to target one of Swift's three concerts at the Ernst Happel Stadium, resulting in all scheduled shows being canceled.
The main suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian with North Macedonian roots, was arrested on Tuesday, August 6.
The foiled plot involved the suspects driving a bomb-filled car into the concert crowd, intending to cause significant harm to as many people as possible.
Further investigations uncovered "bomb-making materials" at the suspects' residences, and at least one explosive device was already in the process of being built, indicating a significant level of preparation for the attack.
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German outlet Bild reported — and cited intelligence sources — that the oldest suspect is believed to have been radicalized by a Berlin-based hate preacher Abul Baraa, who is notorious for spreading hate on social media.
Officials said investigators are hard at work looking into the suspects' "networks" and are still examining physical and electronic evidence.
Officials said investigators are still examining physical and electronic evidence.
A 15-year-old boy was interrogated Wednesday, August 7, but was later released and is reportedly being treated as a witness, authorities said.
Concert organizers in Austria said they had expected up to 65,000 fans inside the stadium at each concert and as many as 30,000 outside.
Karner told reporters that the foiled attack was planned for either Thursday or Friday.
Several Taylor Swift concerts have been canceled as a result of the foiled plot.
The 17-year-old suspect, who was arrested by special police forces near the stadium, had been employed by a company providing services at the venue during the concerts just a few days before the planned attack, the officials added.
“The suspects actually had very specific and detailed plans … to leave a bloodbath in their wake,” Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer revealed Thursday.
Austrian authorities are said to have received information about the Swift concert threat from U.S. intelligence due to Austrian law not allowing the monitoring of instant messaging apps, which the suspects allegedly used to communicate.
None of the suspects’ names have been released due to Austrian privacy rules.
