Photo: TAS24/Getty Images
German prosecutors charged a Syrian teenager with helping a plot to bomb a Taylor Swift concert in Austria, per the New York Times. Due to the threat, Swift canceled three shows in Austria in summer 2024. The teen, identified only as “Mohammad A.,” is accused of helping translate bomb-building instructions and an oath of fealty to an Islamic State terrorist group from Arabic. As a minor, Mohammad A. has not been taken into custody. The charges include planning “a serious act of violence endangering the state” and supporting a foreign terrorist organization. The charges were publicized on June 27 in the Times but were filed the week prior. German police said that Mohammad A. became radicalized and had connected with the main suspect over social media.
The plot originally came to light on August 7, 2024, when Austrian police arrested two unidentified men for planning to bomb Swift’s concert. The police were initially tipped off by American authorities. The two men were both Austrian; one was a 19-year-old and one was a 17-year-old. The 17-year-old has since been released without a charge, while the 19-year-old remains in custody. “Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating,” Swift said in a social-media post after the arrests. “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows. But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.”
Related
Everything We Know About the Thwarted Taylor Swift Terror PlotTaylor Swift ‘Completely in Shock’ Over Southport Knife Attack
