OAN Staff Blake Wolf
4:25 PM – Friday, August 9, 2024
A third suspect has now been arrested by Austrian authorities in relation to a plot intended to target Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna, Austria.
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In response to the sinister plots, three Taylor Swift concerts were canceled in Vienna, leaving fans “heartbroken.”
The 18-year-old Iraqi national was found to have “[taken] an oath of allegiance” to the Islamic terrorist organization ISIS.
Meanwhile, Austrian officials say that the suspect “comes from the social environment” of the other 19-year-old suspect who was previously arrested. The 19-year-old suspect allegedly had bomb materials at his house along with ISIS propaganda material.
However, the suspects’ names were not released, due to Austrian privacy laws.
Officials claim that the suspect confessed to planning on “[killing] as many people as possible outside the concert venue.”
Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, said that the 19-year-old main suspect was “clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels.”
“[The 18-year-old suspect] had been in contact with the main perpetrator, but is not directly connected to the attack plans,” said Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner. “But, as was found out a few days ago, he took an oath of allegiance specifically to ISIS on Aug. 6.”
The White House’s national security spokesman, John Kirby, spoke to reporters and explained the role that the United States played in stopping the almost terrorist attack.
“The United States has an enduring focus on our counterterrorism mission. We work closely with partners all over the world to monitor and disrupt threats. And so as part of that work, the United States did share information with Austrian partners to enable the disruption of a threat to Taylor Swift’s concerts there in Vienna,” Kirby stated.
Swift has not issued a statement in response to the canceled events.
Swift’s fans, a number of which had traveled across the globe to attend the concert, gathered outside of the stadium to sing the pop singer’s hit songs and exchange bracelets, consoling each other after the concerts were canceled.
Her shows in London, which will take place next week, are still scheduled to take place as London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced, “We’re going to carry on.”
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