On Thursday, an Austrian court convicted a man of planning to attack Taylor Swift concert almost two years ago in Vienna. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.The state court in Wiener Neustadt, south of the capital, found the 21-year-old defendant, an Austrian citizen known as Beran A. In compliance with Austrian privacy rules, for multiple accusations, including those related to the concert.The concert plot was scuttled, but Austrian authorities still canceled Swift’s three shows in August 2024.
Beran A. accepts the charges
His defense lawyer said Beran A. admitted to the charges related to the concert plot on the opening day of the trial last month.In his last words to the judge before the suspension to examine the verdict on Thursday, Beran A. he said, “I’d like to say I’m sorry.”
Beran A. planned the attack with knives and explosives
Beran A. allegedly planned to attack people outside the Ernst Happel stadium with knives or homemade explosives. Thousands of Taylor Swift fans, known as Swifties, traveled to Austria to attend the record-breaking performances of the American singer’s Eras Tour. Devastated by the cancellation, many gathered in central Vienna to exchange friendship bracelets and commiserate.
Beran A. planned the attack Islamic State
Beran A. is also said to have networked with members of the Islamic State group before the planned attack. Prosecutors said they discussed buying weapons and making bombs, and that the accused also wanted to buy weapons illegally in the days before the performance, as well as swearing allegiance to the militant group.Authorities searched his apartment on August 7, 2024, and found bomb-making materials. The concerts were to start the next day.“Cancelling our Vienna shows was terrible,” Swift wrote in a statement posted to Instagram two weeks later. “The reason for the cancellation filled me with a new sense of dread, and great guilt, because so many people intended to come to these shows.”
He tried together with A. Arda K.
Arda was tried together with K., another 21-year-old, whose full name has not been made public. They, along with a third man, Hasan E., who was arrested in Saudi Arabia and remains in pre-trial detention, were said to be planning simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates on behalf of IS in Ramadan 2024.Beran A. was only charged for the plot of the concert. The two defendants were charged with traveling and training for terrorist purposes and being part of a terrorist organization, the Austrian Press Agency reported.
The judge found the couple guilty of attempted murder
The court also found the pair guilty of aiding and abetting attempted murder, a charge related to Hasan Ek’s alleged stabbing of a security officer in Mecca in March 2024. Hasan E. he also attacked and injured three other officers and a woman before being arrested, according to the prosecutor.Beran A. and Arda K. did not implement the alleged plans in the UAE and Turkey. Beran A. returned to Vienna and later allegedly began planning to attack Swift’s concert.Arda K. was sentenced to 12 years. Both men stoically listened to the verdict and sentence.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 or not.
