Official charges after planned attack on Taylor Swift concert: 21-year-old built bomb and tried to get weapons. There is a risk of up to 20 years in prison.
Vienna 2024 – A concert that was supposed to delight thousands of fans from all over Europe was targeted by a planned attack. In August 2024, authorities discovered concrete plans by a 21-year-old man who wanted to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium. The investigators then arrested him that same evening. The Austrian public prosecutor’s office is now bringing charges.
The accused is accused of having actively participated in a terrorist organization from May 2023. He is also said to have specifically prepared an attack on the concert planned for August 9, 2024.
The preparations for the crime
According to the indictment, he obtained instructions for building a TATP-based bomb online. He then bought materials for explosives and manufactured a small quantity of them. He also tried several times to obtain illegal weapons and a hand grenade on the black market. He is also accused of having spread propaganda glorifying IS via messenger services.
Concert cancellation and arrest
The suspect has been in custody since his arrest. Therefore, the organizers canceled the three planned concerts as part of Taylor Swift’s “The Eras” tour. The public prosecutor emphasizes that the investigators acted quickly and specifically to prevent possible dangers to the public.
The 21-year-old now has to answer at the Wiener Neustadt regional court. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison. The charge is not yet final – the accused can lodge an objection within 14 days.
“The Eras Tour“
Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour“ is considered one of her most complex and successful projects. The aim of the tour was to bring her entire musical career to life in a live performance – it takes her through all the eras of her albums since her debut in 2006.
The shows typically lasted over three hours and included a selection of around 40 to 45 songs in several thematic sections, each representing an album or a specific phase of their career.
The tour started in the USA in March 2023 and traveled through five continents with over 140 concerts until December 2024; it became the most commercially successful concert project in the history of the music industry. Both a concert film and a six-part documentary were created.
