A third teenager has been arrested over the foiled “bloodbath” terror plot to strike a Taylor Swift concert in Austria — just days after he pledged allegiance to ISIS, Austrian security officials said Friday.
The 18-year-old Iraqi national was nabbed Thursday night in Vienna after authorities realized he’d been in contact with the alleged ringleader before the sinister plans were uncovered, according to Interior Minister Gerhard Karner.
“He had been in contact with the main perpetrator, but is not directly connected to the attack plans,” the minister told a news conference.
“But, as was found out a few days ago, he took an oath of allegiance specifically to the IS on Aug. 6,” he said, referring to the terror group the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
The third suspect ran in the same social circles as the alleged mastermind — a 19-year-old Austrian with North Macedonian roots, Karner added.
The latest arrest comes after the 19-year-old and a 17-year-old Austrian citizen with Turkish and Croatian roots were taken into custody late Tuesday over the thwarted plot to attack one of Swift’s three concerts that had been scheduled at the Ernst Happel Stadium this week.
Authorities have said the plot — which caused Swift’s three Vienna concerts to be canceled — appeared to have been inspired by the Islamic State group.
The main suspect and the 18-year-old arrested Friday had both recently pledged “oaths of allegiance” to ISIS, officials said.
The oldest suspect is believed to have been radicalized by a Berlin-based hate preacher, Abul Baraa, who is notorious on social media, German outlet BILD reported, citing intelligence sources.
Extensive material related to ISIS and al Qaeda was also discovered during a raid at the 17-year-old suspect’s home after his arrest, officials said.
Investigators are now scrutinizing the “networks” of the suspects and are still trawling through physical and electronic evidence, officials said.
A 15-year-old boy was interrogated Wednesday but was later released and is now reportedly being treated as a witness, authorities said.
Concert organizers in Austria said they had expected up to 65,000 fans inside the stadium at each concert and as many as 30,000 onlookers outside.
The foiled attack was planned for Thursday or Friday, Karner said.
After being nabbed, the main suspect confessed to wanting to carry out the suicide attack and “kill as many people as possible” using homemade explosives and knives, authorities said.
Investigators found bomb-making materials at the main suspect’s home and at least one explosive device was already in the process of being built, according to officials.
Here’s everything we know about the attempted terrorist attack at a Taylor Swift concert
- A 17-year-old and a 19-year-old were arrested for plotting an ISIS-style terror attack at one of Taylor Swift’s Austrian concerts this week.
- The would-be terrorists planned to drive a bomb-filled car into the Eras Tour crowd to kill as many people as possible.
- The main suspect — who authorities say fully confessed to the attack plans after his arrest — had recently sworn allegiance to Islamic State’s leader online, security officials said. He had reportedly just been hired by the venue to work security.
- Swift’s three sold-out Eras shows in Vienna have been canceled.
- Taylor Swift previously said her “biggest fear” in life was a violent attack at one of her concerts in a resurfaced article penned by the singer in 2019.
The 17-year-old suspect, who was nabbed by special police forces near the stadium, had only just been employed a few days ago by a company providing services at the venue during the concerts, the officials added.
“The suspects actually had very specific and detailed plans … to leave a bloodbath in their wake,” Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer revealed Thursday.
None of the suspects names have been released due to Austrian privacy rules.
Austrian authorities are said to have received information about the Swift concert threat from US intelligence because Austrian law doesn’t allow the monitoring of instant messaging apps, which the suspects allegedly used to communicate.
Nehammer has repeatedly defended the decision to cancel the concerts, saying the arrests took place too close to the shows.
“I understand very well that those who wanted to experience the concert live are very sad,” Nehammer said.
“Moms and dads are looking after their daughters and sons, who were full of enthusiasm and anticipation for this concert. But it’s also important that in such serious moments as now, it’s inevitable that safety comes first.”
Concert organizer Barracuda Music said in an Instagram post late Wednesday that it had “no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety.”
Swift hasn’t yet commented publicly about the cancellations or terror threat. However, she has previously said that such an attack was her “biggest fear.”
With Post wires
