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A man accused plotting to attack one of superstar singer Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna nearly two years ago pleaded guilty.
According to CNN, the plot was thwarted, but Austrian authorities still canceled Swift’s three performances in August 2024.
Trial proceedings against the Austrian man identified as Beran A began on Tuesday, April 28. He was arrested on August 7, 2024, the day before the first of three planned concerts by the superstar singer in Vienna.
Those concerts were among the last shows of Swift's sold-out Eras Tour, with organizers having planned dozens of other events surrounding the concerts too.
The singer’s fans, known as Swifties, who had flown to Austria from across the globe to attend a performance of her record-setting Eras Tour were devastated, but rallied to turn Vienna into a citywide trading post for friendship bracelets and singalongs.
The defendant, a 21-year-old Austrian citizen known only as Beran A. in line with Austrian privacy rules, faced charges including terrorist offenses and membership in a terrorist organization.
He could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, and has been in custody since August 2024.
The Vienna plot drew comparisons to a 2017 attack by a suicide bomber at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people.
The bomb detonated at the end of Grande’s concert as thousands of young fans were leaving, becoming the deadliest extremist attack in the United Kingdom in recent years.
