Austrian Court Sentences Man to 15 Years for Plotting Attack Outside Taylor Swift Concert

An Austrian court convicted a man of planning an attack targeting a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna on May 28.

The 21-year-old, identified only as Beran A. under Austrian privacy laws, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, according to the Austria Press Agency. His defense team said he admitted to the terrorism-related charges at a trial in April.

An eight-person jury found him guilty of all but two lesser charges, including spreading Islamic State (IS) propaganda, according to Reuters.

“I would just like to say that I am sorry,” Beran A. reportedly told the state court in Wiener Neustadt.

Authorities foiled the planned attack before it could be carried out, but Swift’s three scheduled Eras Tour performances in Vienna were canceled in August 2024.

"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," CIA Deputy Director David Cohen said in 2024, according to the AP.

Prosecutors said Beran A. planned to attack fans gathered outside Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium using knives or homemade explosives. Bomb-making materials were found in his apartment on the day of his arrest on August 7.

Thousands of Swift fans traveled to Austria for the Eras Tour concerts. Following the cancellations, many gathered in central Vienna to exchange friendship bracelets and mourn the lost shows, according to NewsNation.

Beran A. was tried alongside another defendant identified as Arda K., whose full name was also withheld under Austrian law.

Authorities allege the two men, along with a third suspect currently in pretrial detention in Saudi Arabia, planned simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates during Ramadan 2024 in the name of the Islamic State group.

Only Beran A. faced charges directly connected to the alleged Swift concert plot. He pleaded not guilty to charges tied to the broader alleged plan for coordinated international attacks.

Taylor Swift addressed the incident in an Instagram post on August 22, 2024.

“Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating,” she wrote. “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.”

The singer added, “But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives. 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,” Swift 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.”

She added, “Let me be very clear: I am not going to speak about something publicly if I think doing so might provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my shows.”