Teenage terrorist threat linked to IS forces Taylor Swift cancellations

Last night, Taylor Swift should have been playing the 128th show of her record-breaking Eras Tour. Instead, there were 50,865 empty seats at the largest stadium in Austria.

So what? Taylor Swift’s three-concert Vienna run was abruptly cancelled after two teenage boys were arrested for planning a terror attack. One had sworn an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State, as officials warn of a heightened terror threat in Europe fuelled by ongoing turmoil in the Middle East. 

• The Austrian chancellor said the assault was intended to cause bloody havoc “on the scale of Paris, Manchester or Moscow” – attacks that all targeted concertgoers. 
• Both suspects were radicalised online, as Islamic State (IS) and its central Asian offshoot ISIS-K increasingly target teenagers, according to security experts. 
• A US intelligence tip reportedly led to the arrests. Earlier this year US officials also warned Moscow of an imminent threat, but security forces failed to stop the Crocus City Hall attack.

Barracuda Music, the promoter for Swift’s Austria run, cancelled the shows at the Ernst Happel Stadium “for everyone’s safety”. Austria’s domestic intelligence agency distanced itself from the decision, but Chancellor Karl Nehammer later called it “understandable”. 

The suspects include: 

• A 19 year-old man who confessed to the terror plot after being arrested. He lived with his parents south of Vienna and police found IS propaganda, explosives, machetes and knives at his home. There was also a blue police siren which could have helped him flee the scene in a car, officials said. 
• A 17 year-old suspected male accomplice was known to police and had recently started working for one of the stadium’s event service providers. 
• A 15 year-old boy was also questioned in relation to the attack but was not believed to be actively involved. 

The big picture. Gerhard Karner, Austria’s interior minister, warned yesterday of the increased danger from Islamist extremism in Europe since the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel. A recent study from a King’s College London academic found: 

• The number of IS-linked attacks and planned attacks in Europe has more than quadrupled since 2022; and 
• of the 58 suspects arrested since October last year in Europe, 38 were aged between 13 and 19. 
• At least four teenagers were also arrested in a French security sweep ahead of the Olympics for planning terror attacks. 

A major concern for security experts is the resurgent Islamic State group IS-Khorasan – also known as IS-K, ISIS-K and ISKP. Although relatively inactive between 2018 and 2021, since launching an airport bomb attack in Kabul during the Afghan withdrawal it has become a growing, global threat. 

The plot against Taylor Swift’s concert appears to have been inspired by IS rather than directed by members of the group. But Lucas Weber, a research fellow at the Soufan Center, said it “correlates” with recent tactical advice given by IS-K which explicitly urged attacks on music events using incendiary devices.

IS-K has “been aggressively promoting attacks against sporting events and other places where large crowds congregate,” Weber warned. 

The impact. Nearly 200,000 fans, mostly women and girls, were expected to attend Swift’s shows this weekend. Beth Royle, who found out about the cancellations on the runway for her flight to Vienna, said she felt “pure disbelief”. 

Swift hasn’t yet commented on the cancellations. A source close to the singer told The Mirror the singer was “devastated” but “would never risk the safety of her fans”.  

• In March 2019, the singer told Elle magazine she was “completely terrified” to go on tour again after the 2017 IS-claimed suicide bombing at the Manchester Ariana Grande concert and a Las Vegas concert shooting. 
• Swift said last week that a stabbing at a Southport dance class based on her music that killed three young girls left her “in shock”.

Swift hope. Swifties in Vienna still gathered in Cornelius Gasse street last night – because it sounds similar to Swift’s former Cornelia Street address in New York – to sing her songs and trade friendship bracelets. “There’s a feeling of inclusivity at her concerts. There are, after all, not many spaces in the world where women can go and have a drink and a dance and feel safe,” one woman told the Guardian. “I hate that it’s been tainted by this.”

What’s more. Next week, nearly half a million fans are due to attend five sold-out nights of her Eras Tour at Wembley stadium. The Metropolitan Police said there was “nothing to indicate” the investigation in Vienna would have an impact on the London shows.