Last week, after the initial arrests were made, Vienna State Police Director Franz Ruf and Police Chief Gerhard Purstl revealed that certainly one of the suspects was taken into custody on suspicion of a planned attack and had engaged in “specific preparatory actions for a terrorist attack,” and was targeting Taylor Swift’s concert events.
On Thursday, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of Austria’s Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, confirmed that the 19-year-old suspect had confessed to planning a horrific attack at Taylor Swift’s concert using “explosives and knives.”
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Allegations suggest that the suspects planned to drive a automotive into groups of Taylor Swift fans outside the concert venue and were found with homemade explosives.
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Blake Energetic Breaks Silence On Threats Made Regarding Taylor Swift’s Tour
In a TikTok video shared by Access Hollywood on Saturday, August 10, Energetic was seen arriving on the red carpet on the London premiere of her latest film “It Ends with Us.” In the course of the event, a reporter asked about her level of concern regarding “the Austria concert events.”
“Oh my gosh. I mean, how terrifying,” Energetic responded. “But thank goodness that they’re completely on top of that.”
As previously reported by The Blast, two men were arrested on Wednesday, August 7, in reference to a plot to focus on major events in Vienna, including Taylor Swift’s upcoming concert events. One in all the arrested individuals, a 19-year-old, was alleged to have pledged allegiance to ISIS.
In response to those threats, the concert events scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were canceled.
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Three Suspects Have Been Taken Into Custody
The suspects include an 18-year-old Iraqi national, a 19-year-old Austrian from a town near the Hungarian border, and a 17-year-old who had been employed by an organization contracted to offer services for the Ernst Happel Stadium.
Police questioned a 15-year-old regarding his potential involvement within the plot. In keeping with USA Today, Vienna-based Kurier newspaper reported the teenager was released after being interviewed as a witness and isn’t considered a suspect.
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Police Found Explosives At One Suspect’s House
During a search of certainly one of the suspects’ homes, officials found “chemical substances, liquids, explosive and technical devices that could possibly be used to fabricate explosives,” said Franz Ruf, director general for public security. Bomb-making instructions and machetes were also found.
“He desired to perform an attack in the world outside the stadium, killing as many individuals as possible using the knives and even using the explosive devices he had made,” in line with national intelligence head Omar Haijawi-Pirchner.
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Moreover, the 17-year-old who was arrested on Wednesday afternoon in Vienna, had recently ended a relationship along with his girlfriend.
Terrorist Threats Were Aimed To Be A Suicide Bombing
In keeping with Le Monde, Haijawi-Pirchner said, “His aim was to kill himself and numerous people through the concert either today or tomorrow.”
Authorities had estimated that roughly 65,000 fans would attend each of Swift’s Vienna shows, with an extra 15,000 to twenty,000 expected outside the stadium.
“It is a way more unstructured scene during which you might have individuals who self-radicalize and type of come together on online platforms, sometimes also offline,” Lorenzo Vidino, director of the George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, said, per ABC News. “But the web component is getting greater over the previous couple of years, they usually activate themselves independently.”
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Insurers Facing Major Costs After Taylor Swift’s Live shows Canceled Over Terror Threat
Marcos Alvarez, managing director for global financial institution rankings at Morningstar DBRS, estimated that the losses from the cancellations could reach tens of tens of millions of dollars, per Fox Business. Two unnamed sources “involved in insurance for her tour” revealed that several insurers are expected to incur costs related to the cancellation of Swift’s shows at Ernst Happel Stadium.
Nevertheless, Alvarez noted that insurance losses is perhaps somewhat mitigated because the concert events have the potential to be rescheduled.
Between November 2022 and November 2023, the Eras Tour grossed $1.04 billion.
