A 21-year-old Austrian man, identified only as Beran A (because Austrian privacy laws are apparently more powerful than the urge to name and shame), has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for plotting a jihadist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna during her Eras tour in August 2024. He also admitted to other terrorism-related offenses, including planning an attack in Mecca, because apparently one foiled plot wasn't enough for his résumé.
Beran A told the court earlier on Thursday that he was sorry - which, as apologies go, feels a bit like saying 'oops' after accidentally burning down a house. The jury at a court in Wiener Neustadt then retired for several hours to consider its verdicts, presumably debating whether 'sorry' cuts it when you're planning to use a machine gun and a hand grenade at a pop concert.
He was arrested after a tip-off from the CIA, just before the first of three sold-out Taylor Swift concerts that were supposed to take place in Vienna's Ernst Happl stadium. All three Austrian shows were immediately cancelled, disappointing nearly 200,000 fans and the singer herself, who probably had to find something else to do with her Eras tour outfit.
Prosecutors said Beran A had become radicalised and had sworn allegiance to jihadist group Islamic State (IS). They noted he tried but failed to buy weapons illegally, including a machine gun and a hand grenade - a rare instance of bureaucratic incompetence being a good thing.
Court psychiatrist Peter Hoffmann said that Beran A showed no signs of mental illness, adding that there was 'no psychiatric explanation' for his radicalisation. So, just your average, garden-variety extremist with a taste for pop music's cancellation.
Beran A, along with another 21-year-old man named Arda K from Slovakia, went on trial in Wiener Neustadt accused of being part of a cell with jihadist group Islamic State (IS). Arda K was not involved in the Taylor Swift plot, presumably because he had other plans that night.
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