Taylor Swift Concert Terror Plot intended to kill tens of thousands: CIA

A foiled terror plot planned for one of Taylor Swift‘S Eras tour The stops in Vienna earlier this month were intended to kill a “large” number of people, the CIA’s deputy director has revealed.

“They intended to kill a large number of people – tens of thousands of people at this concert, including, I am sure, many Americans,” David S. Cohen said at the Intelligence and National Security Summit on Thursday, August 29, as seen in C-SPAN footage. “The Austrians were able to make these arrests because the agency and our partners in the intelligence community provided them with information about what this ISIS-linked group planned to do.”

Cohen noted that those arrested in connection with the terror plot were “found with explosives” and “bomb-making materials” and had access to the concert venue, the Ernst-Happel-Stadion. He said “undoubtedly hundreds of lives were saved” because the plot was discovered in advance.

“These kinds of successes generally don’t get much attention. “I can tell you there were people within my agency who thought this was a really good day, not just the Swifties on my staff,” he joked.

Related: What you need to know about the planned attack on Taylor Swift’s concert in Vienna

Scott Eisen/TAS23/Getty Images More details are emerging about the alleged terror attack planned for Taylor Swift’s Vienna Eras Tour concerts. Swift was scheduled to perform three shows at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium from August 8 to 10 before authorities learned of a suspected threat. The shows were subsequently canceled as two […]

All three of Swift’s shows in Vienna, scheduled for August 8, 9 and 10, were canceled on August 7 after the terror plot was discovered. Concert organizers Barracuda Music announced the news via Instagram, noting that they had “no choice but to cancel” given the “confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack on Ernst Happel Stadium.”

Swift, 34, spoke about the incident after completing the European leg of the tour at London’s Wembley Stadium the following week.

“It was devastating that our shows in Vienna were cancelled. The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of dread and immense guilt because so many people were planning on coming to those shows,” she wrote on August 21 via Instagram. “But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them we mourned concerts and not lives. I was encouraged by the love and unity I saw from the fans uniting. I decided that all my energy had to go into helping protect the almost half a million people who came to see the shows in London. My team and I have worked closely with the stadium staff and the British authorities every day to achieve that goal, and I would like to thank them for everything they have done for us.”

Swift then explained why she had waited to speak out.

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Taylor Swift launched her first concert tour in more than four years in March 2023 – and positively slayed her fashion choices. The “Anti-Hero” singer, 33, kicked off her tour on Friday, March 17, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, which hosted February’s Super Bowl LVII. The Eras Tour, which celebrated everything […]

“Let me be very clear: I will not speak publicly about anything if I think it could provoke those who wish to harm the fans who come to my shows,” she wrote. “In cases like this, ‘silence’ actually means holding back and waiting to express yourself when the time is right. My priority was to complete our European tour safely, and it is with great relief that I can say we have done that.”

Three suspects – aged 17, 18 and 19 – have been arrested in connection with the terror plot. Law enforcement officials revealed on August 8 that the prime suspect began planning the attack in July and reportedly posted online a pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State group’s current leader.

“He wanted to carry out an attack in the area outside the stadium, killing as many people as possible with the knives or even using the explosives he had created.” Omar Haijawi-Pirchnerthe Austrian head of the Directorate for State Security and Intelligence said of the main suspect, noting that he was “clearly radicalized towards the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels.”

The terror plot came a month after a stabbing at a Swift-themed dance class in Britain left two children dead.

“The horror of yesterday’s attack in Southport continues to wash over me, and I’m just in complete shock,” Swift wrote on July 30 via her Instagram Story. was there, the families and the first responders. These were just little kids taking dance lessons. I don’t know how I can ever convey my condolences to these families.”