Defendants hide behind folders as Austrian judicial security guards escort them into the Vienna Neustadt District Court on Thursday.Joe Cramer/AFP/Getty Images
An Austrian court on Thursday convicted a man of planning an attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna nearly two years ago. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
A state court in Vienna-Neustadt, south of the capital, found the defendant, a 21-year-old Austrian citizen known only by the name Veran A., guilty of multiple charges, including those related to the concert, in accordance with Austrian privacy rules.
Although the concert plans were blocked, Austrian authorities still canceled three of Swift’s performances in August 2024.
According to his lawyer, Beran A. admitted to charges related to the concert conspiracy on the first day of his trial last month.
In his brief final words to the court before deliberations on the verdict were adjourned on Thursday, Beran A. said: “I just want to say that I’m sorry.”
Defendant pleads guilty to plot to attack Taylor Swift concert in Vienna
Beran A. allegedly planned to target people outside Ernst Happel Stadium with knives and homemade explosives. Tens of thousands of Taylor Swift fans, known as Swifties, were in Austria to attend performances on the American singer’s record-setting Ellas Tour. Many people devastated by the cancellation gathered in central Vienna to exchange friendship bracelets and commiserate.
Beran A. also allegedly networked with members of the Islamic State prior to the planned attack. Prosecutors said the defendants discussed buying weapons and making bombs, and that the defendants had pledged allegiance to extremist groups and attempted to illegally purchase weapons days before the performance.
Authorities searched his apartment on August 7, 2024 and found bomb-making materials. The concert was scheduled to begin the next day.
“It was devastating to see the Vienna show canceled,” Swift said in a statement posted to Instagram two weeks later. “When I learned the reason for the cancellation, I was filled with a new sense of dread and tremendous guilt, because so many people had planned to come to those shows.”
Taylor Swift performs at Paris Le Defense Arena during the Hellas Tour Concert in May 2024.Louis Joly/Associated Press
He was tried along with 21-year-old Alda K., whose full name has also not been released. Together with a third person, Hasan E., who was arrested in Saudi Arabia and is in pre-trial detention, they are accused of planning simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates during Ramadan in 2024 in the name of Islamic State.
Beran A. was the only person charged in connection with the concert conspiracy. The two defendants were found guilty of traveling for terrorist purposes, training and being members of a terrorist organization, Austrian News Agency reported.
The court also found them guilty of complicity in attempted murder in connection with the alleged stabbing of Hasan E. of a security official in Mecca in March 2024. Prosecutors said Hassan E also attacked and injured three other police officers and a woman before he was arrested.
Beran A. and Arda K. did not carry out the alleged plans in the UAE or Turkey. Beran A. returned to Vienna, where he allegedly began planning to attack Swift’s concert there.
Arda K. was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The two men calmly listened to the verdict and sentencing, APA reported.
Beran A.’s lawyer, Anna Mair, said after the verdict that she would discuss with her client in the coming days whether to accept the verdict.
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