Editor’s note: After the arrests were announced we’ve seen more articles on how disappointing it is for Taylor Swift fans that her shows were called off, than on who the plotters are, and how come it’s become almost normal in Europe that we have a home-grown Islamist threat and why. These are our media’s priorities and our new normal.
Source: The Rolling Stones
More details have emerged about the thwarted terror plot that led to the arrest of two Austrian teenagers and the cancellation of Taylor Swift’s three sold-out concerts in Vienna.
Speaking to the media following the arrest of the 19-year-old and 17-year-old male suspects, Austrian officials said the terror plot was planned for either Thursday or Friday’s show and that the suspects’ aim was to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue.”
Bomb-making materials were found at the home of the 19-year-old suspect, who officials say was inspired by Al Qaeda and ISIS. He was “clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels,” said Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, Austria’s head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence (via The Associated Press). “His goal was to kill himself and a large crowd of people.”
The 19-year-old suspect allegedly began planning the attack in July and had recently signed an online oath to ISIS. A raid of his home south of Vienna uncovered chemical substances and technical devices that indicated “concrete preparatory acts,” the Ministry of the Interior said.
According to officials, the suspect stole chemicals from his workplace to build a bomb. The suspect also planned to drive his vehicle into the crowd congregated outside the stadium while armed with knives and machetes.
The 17-year-old suspect was arrested by police near the Vienna stadium where Swift was set to perform; authorities said that the suspect — who also had ISIS and Al Qaeda material at his home — was employed by a company that provided unspecified services to concerts at the Ernst Happel Stadium.
“The situation was serious, the situation is serious. But we can also say: A tragedy was prevented,” Austria’s interior minister Gerhard Karner said Thursday.
Although investigators do not believe anyone else was involved in the terror plot, the decision was still made by Barracuda Music, the organizer of the Eras Tour Vienna shows, to cancel the concerts, which were estimated to draw 65,000 people inside the stadium and an additional 10,000 people outside the venue for each show.
“With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety,” Barracuda Music shared in a statement.
“The cancellation of the Taylor Swift concerts by the organizers is a bitter disappointment for all fans in Austria,” Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said in a statement. “The situation surrounding the apparently planned terrorist attack in Vienna was very serious. Thanks to the intensive cooperation of our police and the newly established DSN with foreign services, the threat was recognized early, combated and a tragedy prevented. Many thanks to the emergency services who are currently investigating at full speed.”
He continued, “We live in a time in which violent means are being used to attack our Western way of life. Islamist terrorism threatens security and freedom in many Western countries. This is precisely why we will not give up our values such as freedom and democracy, but will defend them even more vehemently.”
Source: Voice of America
The main suspect, who has North Macedonian roots, made a full confession in custody, Austria’s general director for public security, Franz Ruf, told a news conference.
He swore loyalty to the IS militant group’s leader on the internet and kept chemicals and technical devices at his home in the town of Ternitz in preparation for an attack, Ruf said.
The 19-year-old, whose name was not given, was planning an attack with an explosive or knife among the estimated 20,000 “Swiftie” fans set to gather outside the stadium, said national intelligence head Omar Haijawi-Pirchner.
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