Per the CIA, Terrorists Planning to Kill "Tens of Thousands of People" Targeted Taylor Swift Performances
The terrorist threat prompted concert organizer Barracuda Music to cancel all three of Swift’s Eras Tour dates at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium, which were scheduled to begin on August 8.
Three weeks after four suspected terrorists with links to the Islamic State were apprehended in Vienna ahead of an alleged plot targeting Taylor Swift’s sold-out concerts, the CIA has confirmed that they provided Austrian authorities with the crucial intelligence needed to prevent the attack.
“They were plotting to kill a huge number, tens of thousands of people at this concert, including, I am sure, many Americans,” CIA Deputy Director David S. Cohen stated on Wednesday at the annual Intelligence Summit near Washington, D.C., according to a report by The New York Times.
Cohen, who has held his position since 2021, explained that the arrests were made possible due to the intelligence shared by the CIA and their partners in the intelligence community about the ISIS-connected group’s plans.
The terrorist threat prompted concert organizer Barracuda Music to cancel all three of Swift’s Eras Tour dates at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium, which were scheduled to begin on August 8. The arrests were made too close to the concert dates to ensure safety.
Austrian police first detained two suspects, a 17-year-old Austrian citizen found with al-Qaida materials at his home and a 19-year-old who allegedly planned to attack concertgoers with explosives and knives outside the venue.
These arrests occurred two days before the first scheduled show. A third suspect, an 18-year-old Iraqi citizen, was arrested on August 8. Cohen mentioned that the CIA had identified four individuals involved; while Austrian police detained a fourth suspect, a 15-year-old, he was released after questioning.
Taylor Swift addressed the situation two weeks after the concerts were canceled, expressing her devastation and gratitude on Instagram. “The reason for the cancellation filled me with a sense of fear and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows,” she wrote.
“But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.”
Cohen did not reveal how the CIA uncovered the plot, but the Times reported that around 200,000 fans were expected to attend Swift’s Vienna shows. The singer has since concluded the European leg of her Eras Tour.
