Three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna this week have been cancelled after officials arrested two people over an apparent plot to launch an attack on a public event in the Vienna area.
The announcement was made by concert organisers Barracuda Music late on Wednesday, after Austrian authorities said they had arrested a 19-year-old man for allegedly planning an Islamist attack in the Vienna region and suggested that Swift’s shows had been the “focus” of the plot.
The man, who had pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group “in recent weeks”, was detained in Lower Austria about an hour from the capital early on Wednesday, Austria’s top security chief, Franz Ruf, told a press conference.
“We have established corresponding preparatory acts and also that there is a focus of the 19-year-old perpetrator on the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna,” Ruf said.
The man, an Austrian citizen, is believed to have become radicalised on the internet. Ruf said chemical substances had been seized at the suspect’s home and were being evaluated.
A second person believed to have been in contact with the suspect was arrested in Vienna.
Swift had been scheduled to play at the Austrian capital’s Ernst Happel Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Barracuda Music said in an Instagram post late on Wednesday: “We have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety.”
About 65,000 spectators had been expected for each show.
In November 2020, a convicted Islamic State group sympathiser went on a shooting rampage in central Vienna, killing four and wounding 23 others before police shot him dead. It marked the country’s first deadly jihadist attack.