The investigation into the terrorist attack that was prevented at the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna added a key advance this week.Austrian authorities have filed formal terrorism charges against one of the main suspects, more than a year after three dates of The Eras Tour were canceled due to a “credible threat” of danger.
As reported by the Associated Press agency, Austrian prosecutors charged a 21-year-old man, identified by the local press as Beran A, with crimes related to terrorism, including membership in a terrorist organization, manufacturing explosives and attempting to illegally purchase weapons.The accused remains in custody and, if found guilty, faces up to 20 years in prison.
According to prosecutors, the defendant had declared allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) and shared propaganda material on messaging services.The accusation maintains that “he obtained instructions on the Internet for the construction of a shrapnel bomb based on the explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP)”, a common compound in attacks attributed to that group, and that produced a small amount of the explosive.In addition, he attempted on several occasions to illegally acquire weapons outside the country and bring them into Austria.
The judicial process will be processed in Wiener Neustadt, a town near Vienna.Investigators also point out that the accused would have participated in the planning of other attacks abroad, including Dubai and Istanbul, which ultimately did not come to fruition.
The plot came to light in August 2024, days before Swift performed at Ernst Happel Stadium.Based on credible warnings from the government intelligence service, promoter Barracuda Music announced the cancellation of three concerts scheduled between August 8 and 10 “for everyone’s safety.”
That same day, Austrian police arrested two suspects.The authorities detailed that one of them, 19 years old, had alleged links to ISIS and there were specific plans to carry out an attack during the concerts.After a raid, it was determined that he planned to use knives or homemade explosives.
The then head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, described the seriousness of the plan: “He wanted to carry out an attack in the area outside the stadium, killing as many people as possible using knives or even the explosive devices he had made.”
As the days went by, there were more arrests.A second suspect, 17 years old, worked for a company that provided services on the premises;He did not have tickets and was arrested near the stadium.A third person involved, aged 18, was also arrested for links to the main accused.In total, at least three people were arrested.In 2025, a Syrian minor was convicted of contributing to the plot.
According to Us Weekly, the cancellation of the concerts was supported by intelligence information shared by the United States to its counterparts in Austria.The deputy director of the CIA, David S. Cohen, reiterated at the time that cooperation between agencies allowed the arrests.
Following the cancellations, Swift publicly expressed her shock and gratitude toward the authorities.In a message on her social networks, the singer-songwriter wrote: “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear and enormous guilt, because so many had planned to come to those shows. However, I was very grateful to the authorities because, thanks to them, we cried that we lost concerts, instead of losing lives.”
The artist also responded to criticism for having waited to speak out: “I’m not going to speak publicly about something if I think doing so could provoke those who want to harm the fans who come to my shows. In cases like this, ‘silence’ is showing restraint,” she explained at the time.
