A young Syrian national has been charged with supporting a foreign terrorist group over a foiled plan to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last summer. Identified as Mohammad A., authorities note he is a juvenile and currently not detained, accused of aligning with the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) and assisting another individual in the plot.
Concert organizers made the decision to call off Swift's three sold-out shows at Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadium on the eve of the first performance last August, which was disheartening for the tens of thousands of fans who had eagerly anticipated the event during her Eras Tour. At the time, law enforcement apprehended multiple suspects believed to be influenced by IS and al-Qaeda.
The federal public prosecutor in Germany disclosed that Mohammad A. had been adhering to the ideology of IS since at least April 2024. Reports indicate that between mid-July and August 2024, he communicated with a young adult from Austria contemplating a bomb attack at Swift's concert. Approximately sixty-five thousand fans had purchased tickets for the shows scheduled from August 8 to August 10.
Swift expressed her heartfelt apologies for the sudden cancellation and shared the "tremendous guilt" she felt regarding the situation, stating her commitment to pouring energy into her remaining European performances. The primary suspect in the investigation, identified as Beran A., is known to have ties to an IS cell based in eastern Austria. Authorities arrested him prior to the concerts following information from the CIA, which warned that the plotters sought to cause mass casualties among concert-goers.
Investigators allege that Beran A., now 20, had prior plans for an attack in Dubai in March 2024, allegedly as part of a coordinated effort involving several IS attacks, though he abruptly changed his mind. Mohammad A. is said to have provided support to the main suspect by translating bomb-making instructions from Arabic and facilitating contact with a member of IS online. He is also suspected of composing an oath of allegiance to IS for the principal suspect.
