CIA: Terrorist plot at Taylor Swift’s Vienna concerts was serious and advanced

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Taylor Swift had three concerts scheduled in Vienna in early August that had to be canceled last minute when Austrian authorities uncovered a planned terrorist attack. Taylor did not make any public statements at the time, which was the safe and soundest thing to do while law enforcement worked to apprehend the suspect. Taylor ended up not commenting on what happened until a few weeks later, after she’d completed the European leg of the Eras Tour with her second stop in London. Now the CIA is confirming just how serious the situation was. While speaking at a security summit this week, the deputy director characterized the terrorist plot as “serious” and “quite advanced,” and that it had the potential to kill tens of thousands of people. Thank goodness everyone took the right steps to ensure that it didn’t.

The planned terrorist plot at Taylor Swift’s shows in Vienna earlier this month was intended to kill “tens of thousands” of fans, according to the deputy director of the CIA.

“They were plotting to kill a huge number, tens of thousands of people at this concert, I am sure many Americans,” CIA Deputy Director David S. Cohen said on Wednesday after revealing at the Intelligence and National Security Summit that the information Austrian authorities used to stop the terror plot was given to the CIA.

He also noted at the summit held in Maryland that those who planned the attack “were quite advanced in this.”

On Aug. 7, Austrian authorities arrested two people accused of plotting a terror attack, with additional arrests made in subsequent days. Some of the individuals arrested were found with bomb-making materials and had access to the concert venue, where several shows were scheduled to take place in the days following the arrests.

Austrian officials said the main suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian man, was inspired by the Islamic State group. He allegedly planned to attack outside the stadium, where upwards of 30,000 fans were expected to gather, with another 65,000 likely to be inside the venue. Investigators discovered chemical substances and technical devices during a raid of the suspect’s home.

Austria’s interior minister, Gerhard Karner, previously stated that help from other intelligence agencies was necessary because Austrian investigators, unlike some foreign services, cannot legally monitor text messages.

The main suspect’s lawyer claimed the allegations were “overacting at its best,” arguing that Austrian authorities were “presenting this exaggeratedly” to push for new surveillance powers.

Swift had been planning to hold three concerts in Vienna beginning Aug. 8, with 200,000 people expected to attend. Last week, in a social media post, the singer broke her silence about the cancellations after concluding her London shows at Wembley Stadium.

“Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating,” she wrote in a statement posted to Instagram. “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.”

[From Hollywood Life]

Further on in Taylor’s Instagram post she made it very clear that her silence had been intentional. “My priority was finishing our European tour safely, and it is with great relief that I can say we did that.” That’s absolutely right. Canceling the shows, cooperating with law enforcement, and not commenting until the entire tour leg was over protected the lives of her fans and everyone who works on the tour. And it sounds like the CIA stepped in fairly quickly to assist the Austrian authorities. This is a whole other conversation, but I find that detail on Austrians not being allowed to monitor their citizens’ text messages rather fascinating.