Last month, Austrian police foiled a plot that was linked to ISIS and targeted Taylor Swift’s concert in Vienna. Two suspects were detained on August 7, one of them is a 19-year-old man from the area near Vienna. This was after a search was conducted and police found chemicals believed to be for use in explosions.
Focused on the Concert
The suspects chose to attack Swift’s concerts at the Ernst Happel Stadium which was part of the Eras Tour. As the Austrian Director General for Public Safety, Franz Ruf, said, preparatory actions were detected. Which proves that there is a specific focus on such events. The authorities have raised the level of protection, but they have not stated that the concerts are safe yet.
Concert Cancellation
The Austrian show promoter, Barracuda, who was organizing the concerts, stated the shows would not be going ahead due to a planned terrorist attack via Instagram. To support this decision the promoter stated that everyone’s safety was taken into consideration.
Suspects Radicalized Online
The suspect is 19 years old and is from Austria, he reportedly swore allegiance to ISIS back in July. Both of the suspects are reported to have got radicalized through the Internet, which is still a pertinent problem of the modern world.
Recent Similar Incident
This incident takes place shortly after a threat at Morgan Wallen’s concert in Kansas City, in which a man was arrested for making a terroristic threat. The Kansas City threat shows that more security measures should be taken to protect the public gatherings.
The swift action by the Austrian police is a grim reminder that the menace of terrorism has not faded away and that there is need to be extra cautious in order to protect large congregations.