An Austrian court has sentenced a 21-year-old man to 15 years in prison over a planned jihadist attack targeting a concert by American pop star Taylor Swift during her Eras Tour in Vienna.
The defendant, identified only as Beran A. under Austrian privacy laws, was convicted on multiple terrorism-related charges after admitting to plotting the attack ahead of Swift’s scheduled concerts in August 2024.
According to international reports by BBC News and Reuters, the suspect was arrested on August 7, 2024, just one day before the first of three sold-out concerts at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium.
Authorities said the planned attack, which was foiled following a CIA tip-off, forced the immediate cancellation of all three concerts, leaving nearly 200,000 fans devastated.
During the trial in Wiener Neustadt, south of Vienna, Beran A. pleaded guilty to charges connected to the plot and apologised before sentencing.
“I would just like to say that I am sorry,” he told the court.
Prosecutors said the suspect had become radicalised and pledged allegiance to the extremist group Islamic State, IS.
The court heard that he attempted to acquire illegal weapons, including a machine gun and hand grenade, while also learning how to make explosives from an IS-linked video titled “Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom.”
Investigators also revealed that he produced a quantity of triacetone triperoxide, TATP, an explosive substance commonly associated with terror attacks.
Court psychiatrist Peter Hoffmann testified that the defendant showed no signs of mental illness, stating there was “no psychiatric explanation” for his radicalisation.
The suspect reportedly planned to target concertgoers with knives and homemade explosives outside the stadium during Swift’s Eras Tour performance.
Another defendant, Arda K., was sentenced to 12 years in prison for related terrorism offences connected to the same extremist network.
Following the foiled attack in 2024, Taylor Swift described the cancellation of the Vienna concerts as “devastating,” admitting that the incident left her with “a new sense of fear.”
“I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives,” Swift had written on Instagram after the incident.
