Suspect in Austrian court (Image: Getty)
An alleged Islamic State (ISIS) supporter plotted a terror attack on a Taylor Swift concert with a bomb hidden inside a Red Bull can, a court heard. Beran Aliyi, 21, has begun his trial in Austria over an alleged despicable plot to target the crowd watching the music superstar at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium.
A court heard that investigators raided Aliyi’s apartment the day before the concert was to begin and found suspected bomb-making material.
More than 195,000 fans of the singer, affectionately known as ‘Swifties’, had booked tickets for her three-day appearance at the venue. The horrific details of the alleged planned attack have been compared to the 2017 attack by a suicide bomber at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, which killed 22 people. The bomb detonated as thousands of young fans were leaving at the end of Grande’s concert, becoming the deadliest extremist attack in Britain in recent years.
It is alleged that Aliyi had planned to drive past security using fake police blue lights and sirens before detonating his explosive device, German newspaper Bild reports.
The plot was foiled, but Austrian authorities nevertheless canceled three of Swift’s performances in August 2024. The singer’s fans, who had traveled from around the world to Austria to attend performances from her record-setting Eraz Tour, were devastated, but rallied to turn Vienna into a citywide trading center for friendship bracelets and singalongs.
Read more: Taylor Swift Made Our House Amazing – In Fact, It’s a Ghost Town
Read more: Man who planned to attack Taylor Swift concert charged with terrorism offense
ISIS-inspired suspect planned to attack Taylor Swift concert (Image: Getty)
The defendant, a 21-year-old suspect, faces charges including terrorist offenses and membership in a terrorist organization. He could be sentenced to up to 20 years in jail.
He is from Arda. The accused, whose full name has not even been made public, are facing trial. He, along with a third man, planned to carry out simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates during Ramadan in 2024 in the name of the Islamic State group. Aliyi and Arda K. never launched his attacks.
Aliyi’s defense attorney, Anna Mair, said her client planned to plead guilty to most of the charges, but did not specify which ones.
Aliyi reportedly planned to target 30,000 spectators outside the Ernst Happel Stadium each night and 65,000 inside the venue with knives or homemade explosives.
Authorities said the suspect hoped to “kill as many people as possible” in 2024. The US provided intelligence, leading to the decision to cancel the concert.
Aliyi also reportedly networked with other members of the Islamic State group before the planned attack. Prosecutors say they discussed buying weapons and making bombs, and the defendant also tried to buy weapons illegally in the days before the demonstration. Additionally, he took an oath of allegiance to the militant group.
Suspect in Vienna court (Image: Getty)
Authorities searched his apartment on August 7, 2024, and found bomb-making materials. The concerts were scheduled to begin the next day.
“The cancellation of our Vienna show was devastating,” Swift wrote in a statement posted on Instagram two weeks later. “The cancellation filled me with a new sense of dread and a tremendous amount of guilt because a lot of people had planned to come to those shows.”
The trial is being held in Wiener Neustadt, about an hour south of Vienna. The proceedings will continue on May 12. Three attacks have been planned in Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates
Prosecutors have also filed terrorism-related charges against Arda Kay in the trial in connection with planning simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
The third person in that conspiracy, Hassan E., allegedly attacked a security guard at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia with a knife on March 11, 2024. Austrian prosecutors said he was arrested and is being held in pre-trial detention in Saudi Arabia.
Aliyi and Arda K. did not carry out its plans in Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates. Aliyi returned to Vienna and then allegedly began plotting to attack a Swift concert there.
