The CIA have reported that the terrorists who planned to attack the Taylor Swift Vienna gigs were aiming to kill “tens of thousands” of fans.
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Earlier this month, all three of the pop star’s ‘Eras Tour’ shows in Vienna were cancelled after it was revealed that two people had been arrested for allegedly plotting a terror attack during the gigs.
The ‘Midnights’ singer was set to play at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium on Thursday (August 8), Friday (9) and Saturday (10), but event organiser Barracuda Music confirmed that it had “no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety”.
In relation to the terror plot on the Vienna shows, a 19-year-old main suspect was arrested in Ternitz, south of Vienna, and a second person in the Austrian capital. It was widely reported that the former had pledged an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State group.
Now, according to the CIA’s deputy director David Cohen, the terrorist who had planned the attack wanted to kill “a huge number” of people at the event (per BBC).
Cohen addressed the failed plot during the annual Intelligence and National Security Summit on Wednesday (August 28) in Maryland. He shared that the intelligence provided by the agency to Austrian authorities allowed them to disrupt the plot and save “hundreds of lives”.
“They were plotting to kill a huge number, tens of thousands of people at this concert … and were quite advanced in this,” Cohen said (per Euronews).
He continued: “The Austrians were able to make those arrests because the agency and our partners in the intelligence community provided them information about what this ISIS-connected group was planning to do.”
The main suspect – who has not been named in line with Austrian privacy rules – fully confessed to planning a terror attack at one of the shows in Vienna. He had reportedly wanted to use knives or self-made explosives outside the Ernst Happel Stadium to kill as many people as possible (via Sky News). A police search of his house reportedly led to chemicals, explosives, knives and machetes being found.
It was later reported that a third suspect had been arrested by police in the area after allegedly being in contact with the main suspect.
Last week, Swift addressed the “devastating” Vienna terror plot and explained her “silence” on the situation, sharing that it was for the “priority” of fans’ safety.
In a post on social media recapping the European tour, Swift opened up about the terror plot and the cancelled shows: “Walking onstage in London was a rollercoaster of emotions. Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating. The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows. But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.”
She continued: “I was heartened by the love and unity I saw in the fans who banded together. I decided that all of my energy had to go toward helping to protect the nearly half a million people I had coming to see the shows in London. My team and I worked hand in hand with stadium staff and British authorities every day in pursuit of that goal, and I want to thank them for everything they did for us. Let me be very clear: I am not going to speak about something publicly if I think doing so might provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my shows.”
“In cases like this one, ‘silence’ is actually showing restraint, and waiting to express yourself at a time when it’s right to. My priority was finishing our European tour safely, and it is with great relief that I can say we did that,” she wrote.