The Great Jihad Targets Taylor Swift in Vienna
Posted on August 7, 2024 by Baron Bodissey
As has been widely reported today, Taylor Swift’s planned concerts in Austria were allegedly targeted by mujahideen for the Islamic State.
The article below describes the heightened security that was planned in the wake of the first arrests. Just after it was posted, all the events were cancelled (see, for example, this report from The Chicago Tribune).
Many thanks to Gary Fouse for translating this article from the Austrian daily Heute:
Taylor Swift Concert
Terror in Vienna planned — other suspects on the run
A 17 and 19-year-old planned an attack on one of the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna. Explosive: Suspects reportedly on the run!
by Newsdesk Heute
August 7, 2024
A police operation in Ternitz on Wednesday has expanded into a massive terror investigation by the authorities. A radical Islamist duo, who had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State and its leader a few weeks ago, reportedly were planning a terror attack in greater Vienna. Most probably at one of the three mega concerts by Taylor Swift with ten thousand fans in Ernst-Happel Stadium. The 19-year-old Austrian with North Macedonian roots was arrested in Ternitz, the 17-year-old in Vienna.
As to the young suspects, no further details are as yet known. What is certain, according to the authorities, is: Preparations were being made for a terror attack. The target is believed to be events in greater Vienna — for certain one of the Taylor Swift concerts was “in focus” for the Islamists. During the house search in Ternitz, “chemical substances” were reportedly found which will be analyzed by the specialists. Security measures at the concerts would be massively heightened, the police announced.
Search for other suspects
Is cancellation of the concert possible on short notice? “We as police authorities cannot simply cancel an event,” police stated on Wednesday afternoon, but the organizer has been informed. But now explosive news is coming from police circles. Three other suspects are believed to be in the middle of Vienna and on the run! The search for the suspected Islamists continues at high speed. As for the concerts in Vienna, the police did not speak of anything “concrete”, but certainly of an “abstract” threat situation.
The security measures, therefore, will be massively strengthened, and hundreds of officers will be deployed. Fans will be protected by police with attack weapons and sharpshooters, the special units Wega and Cobra, special forces in plain clothes, as well as dozens of police in and around the Ernst-Happel Stadium. The police have announced tight controls of persons, bags, and access, cameras will be widely used and the events will be surveilled from the air. |
