An Austrian man identified as Beran A. pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges related to a plot to attack one of Taylor Swift’s 2024 concerts in Vienna, Austrian outlets Kurier and Kronen Zeitung reported. Prosecutors brought multiple terrorism-related charges and alleged links to a terrorist organization, but it was not immediately clear which additional counts he admitted.
Beran A. was arrested on August 7, 2024, the day before the first of three planned Eras Tour concerts in Vienna. Those shows were among the final, sold-out dates of Swift’s tour and were accompanied by dozens of related events. Organizers canceled all three Vienna concerts after authorities, with assistance from U.S. intelligence, said they had foiled the planned attack, disappointing many fans.
Vienna prosecutors said earlier that Beran A. had declared allegiance to the so-called “Islamic State” by sharing propaganda materials. He has also been prosecuted for allegedly plotting attacks in the Middle East with a Slovak national and for allegedly assisting a third man who was arrested on suspicion of carrying out a knife attack in Mecca. Reported targets in the planned Middle East attacks included Dubai and Istanbul; those plots were never carried out.
If convicted on the most serious counts, Beran A. faces a prison term of 10 to 20 years.
Edited by: Alex Berry
In accordance with the German press code, Deutsche Welle refrains from publishing the full name of criminal suspects.