A person who admitted to plotting to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna nearly two years ago told an Austrian court Thursday that he was sorry, ahead of a verdict in his trial.
The concert plot was thwarted, but Austrian authorities still canceled Swift’s three performances in August 2024.
The defendant, a 21-year-old Austrian citizen known only as Beran A. in step with Austrian privacy rules, faces charges including terrorist offenses and membership in a terrorist organization.
His defense attorney said he pleaded guilty to the fees related to the concert plot through the opening day of the trial last month. He could withstand 20 years in prison.
Beran A. allegedly planned to focus on people outside the Ernst Happel Stadium with knives or homemade explosives. Tens of 1000’s of Taylor Swift fans, often known as Swifties, had traveled to Austria to attend the performances of the American singer’s record-setting Eras Tour. Devastated by the cancellations, many gathered in central Vienna to trade friendship bracelets and commiserate in regards to the cancellations.
Beran A. also allegedly networked with other members of the Islamic State group ahead of the planned attack. Prosecutors have said they discussed purchasing weapons and making bombs, and that the defendant also sought to illegally buy weapons in the times ahead of the performance, in addition to swearing allegiance to the militant group.
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He’s on trial alongside Arda K., whose full name also has not been made public. They, together with a 3rd man who was arrested and stays in pretrial detention in Saudi Arabia, allegedly planned to perform simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates during Ramadan 2024 within the name of IS.
Only Beran A. was charged in reference to the concert plot. He pleaded not guilty to the fees related to the plot for simultaneous attacks.
In closing arguments Thursday on the state court in Wiener Neustadt, south of Vienna, prosecutors called for the lads’s conviction, the Austria Press Agency reported.
Beran A.’s defense lawyer, Anna Mair, told the court that her client was “not an ideological mastermind.”
In brief final words to the court before it adjourned to think about a verdict, Beran A. said: “I might identical to to say that I’m sorry.”
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