WIENER NEUSTADT, Austria — An Austrian court handed down a 15-year prison sentence to a man convicted of plotting an attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna nearly two years ago. The 21-year-old, referred to as Beran A. due to Austrian privacy laws, was found guilty on charges related to the concert plot, as reported by the Austria Press Agency.
During the trial’s opening last month, Beran A.’s defense attorney acknowledged his client’s admission to charges concerning the concert plan. Although the plot was foiled, the incident led Austrian authorities to cancel Swift’s scheduled performances in August 2024.
I would like to say that I am sorry,Beran A. expressed before the court as it prepared to deliver its verdict.
Photographs captured the defendant using a folder to shield his face as he was led in handcuffs to the courtroom in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.
Prosecutors revealed that Beran A. intended to target concertgoers outside Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium with knives or improvised explosives. Significant numbers of Swift’s fans, known as Swifties, had already arrived in Austria for the artist’s historic Eras Tour, and many gathered in Vienna’s city center to exchange friendship bracelets and share their disappointment following the concert cancellations.
Beran A. was also accused of contacting Islamic State (IS) group members to discuss acquiring weapons and constructing bombs. The prosecutors also claimed he sought to illegally purchase weapons shortly before the concerts and pledged allegiance to IS.
Law enforcement discovered bomb-making materials in his apartment on August 7, 2024, just a day before the concerts were to commence.
Taylor Swift addressed the cancellations in a statement on Instagram, expressing that the incident instilled her with fear and guilt due to the thwarted plans of numerous fans.
The trial involved another young man, Arda K., who also faced charges. Both men were accused, alongside Hasan E. who is detained in Saudi Arabia, of planning concurrent attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates during Ramadan 2024 in ISIS’s name. Hasan E. allegedly stabbed a security officer and wounded several others in Mecca.
While only Beran A. was charged regarding the concert plot, both defendants were convicted of offenses including traveling for terrorist purposes and contributing to attempted murder in the context of these broader terror plans.