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An Austrian court handed down a 15-year prison sentence to a man on Thursday for scheming to target a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna almost two years ago.
The court in Wiener Neustadt, located just south of Vienna, convicted the 21-year-old Austrian, referred to as Beran A. due to privacy regulations in Austria. He faced several charges, including those connected to the concert plot.
Although the planned attack was foiled, Austrian officials decided to cancel Swift’s trio of performances scheduled for August 2024.
During the trial’s opening last month, Beran A.’s lawyer confirmed that his client confessed to the charges regarding the concert attack.
Offering a brief final statement before the court deliberated on its decision, Beran A. expressed remorse, stating, “I would just like to say that I am sorry.”
Beran A. allegedly planned to target people outside the Ernst Happel Stadium with knives or homemade explosives.
Tens of thousands of Taylor Swift fans, known as Swifties, had traveled to Austria to attend the performances of the American singer’s record-setting Eras Tour.
Devastated by the cancellations, many gathered in central Vienna to trade friendship bracelets and commiserate.
Beran A. also allegedly networked with members of the Islamic State group ahead of the planned attack.
Prosecutors have said they discussed purchasing weapons and making bombs, and that the defendant also sought to illegally buy weapons in the days ahead of the performance, as well as swearing allegiance to the militant group.
Authorities searched his apartment on Aug. 7, 2024, and found bomb-making materials. The concerts were scheduled to begin the next day.
“Having our Vienna shows canceled was devastating,” Swift wrote in a statement posted to Instagram two weeks later. “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.”
He was tried alongside Arda K., another 21-year-old whose full name also has not been made public. They, along with a third man, Hasan E., who was arrested and remains in pretrial detention in Saudi Arabia, allegedly planned to carry out simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates during Ramadan 2024 in the name of IS.
Only Beran A. was charged in connection with the concert plot. The two defendants were found guilty of charges including traveling and training for terrorist purposes, and being part of a terrorist organization, the Austria Press Agency reported.
The court also found the pair guilty of contributing to attempted murder, a charge linked to Hasan E.’s alleged stabbing of a security officer in Mecca in March 2024. Hasan E. also attacked and wounded three other officers and a woman before he was arrested, according to prosecutors.
Beran A. and Arda K. did not carry out their alleged plans in the UAE and Turkey. Beran A. returned to Vienna and later allegedly began plotting to attack the Swift concert there.
Arda K. was given a 12-year sentence. The two men listened stoically to the verdict and the sentencing, APA reported.
Beran A.’s lawyer, Anna Mair, said after the verdict that she would discuss with her client in the coming days whether to accept the verdict.