Taylor Swift's Vienna Eras Tour concerts canceled after foiled terrorist attack
Vienna, Austria - Taylor Swift's much-anticipated concerts in Vienna have been canceled "for everyone's safety," concert organizers at Barracuda Music announced on Wednesday after an Islamist terrorist plot was foiled by local police.
Earlier on Wednesday, Austrian authorities said they had arrested a 19-year-old man for allegedly planning an Islamist attack in the Vienna region in connection with Taylor's Eras Tour concerts that had been scheduled for later this week.
The man, who had pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group "in recent weeks," was detained in Lower Austria about an hour from the capital early on Wednesday, Austria's top security chief Franz Ruf told a press conference.
"We have established corresponding preparatory acts and also that there is a focus of the 19-year-old perpetrator on the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna," Ruf said.
He said that chemical substances had been seized at the suspect's home.
A second person believed to have been in contact with the suspect was arrested in Vienna.
According to initial investigation findings, both suspects were radicalized on the internet.
Before the performances were canceled, police announced that safety measures would be stepped up at the entrances to the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday Eras Tour concerts in Vienna.
About 65,000 spectators were expected for each show.
After the arrests, Vienna police chief Gerhard Puerstl said the danger had been minimized, but that there was still an "abstract danger" to the public.
In November 2020, a convicted Islamic State group sympathizer went on a shooting rampage in downtown Vienna, killing four and wounding 23 others before police shot him dead. It marked the Alpine nation's first deadly jihadist attack.
Cover photo: Collage: ROBYN BECK / AFP & AMY SUSSMAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP