Plot to attack Taylor Swift shows was intended to kill thousands ... CIA

 

The suspects in the foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna earlier this month sought to kill “tens of thousands” of fans before the CIA discovered intelligence that disrupted the planning, the agency’s deputy director said, according to The Associated Press.

The CIA alerted Austrian authorities about the plot, which was reportedly connected to the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization. This intelligence and the subsequent arrests led to the cancellation of three sold-out shows.

CIA Deputy Director David Cohen discussed the thwarted plot during the annual Intelligence and National Security Summit in Maryland this week.

“They were plotting to kill a huge number — tens of thousands of people at this concert, including I am sure many Americans — and were quite advanced in this,” Cohen said, according to AP. “The Austrians were able to make those arrests because the agency and our partners in the intelligence community provided them information about what this ISIS-connected group was planning to do.”

Austrian officials have identified the main suspect as a 19-year-old Austrian man, who was reportedly inspired by ISIS. He allegedly planned to target fans outside the stadium, where approximately 30,000 were expected to gather, using knives or homemade explosives. Inside the venue, an additional 65,000 fans were anticipated.

Three teenagers have been detained in connection with the investigation and are suspected of plotting a suicide attack.

Investigators found a stockpile of chemicals, explosive devices, detonators and €21,000 in counterfeit cash at the home of the main suspect, a 19-year-old ISIS sympathizer who had been radicalized online, authorities said.

Austria’s interior minister, Gerhard Karner, noted that assistance from other intelligence agencies was essential because Austrian investigators, unlike some foreign services, lack the legal authority to monitor text messages.

Swift addressed the cancellations last week after her London shows concluded.

“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,” Swift wrote.

“I was heartened by the love and unity I saw in the fans who banded together. I decided that all of my energy had to go toward helping to protect the nearly half a million people I had coming to see the shows in London,” she continued. “My team and I worked hand in hand with stadium staff and British authorities every day in pursuit of that goal, and I want to thank them for everything they did for us.”