2024 Vienna terrorism plot

In August 2024, a <a href="/facts/Terrorism/DHJGPJ6P">terrorism</a> plot assisted by the <a href="/facts/Islamic_State/1307qum3">Islamic State</a>, a <a href="/facts/Jihadism/FaY0bQcQ">jihadist</a> <a href="/facts/Militant/JFJkBXcL">militant</a> group, targeting a concert of the American singer-songwriter <a href="/facts/Taylor_Swift/gdDeCTku">Taylor Swift</a> at the <a href="/facts/Ernst-Happel-Stadion/dAUgsv6p">Ernst-Happel-Stadion</a> in <a href="/facts/Vienna/NSpIURsA">Vienna</a> was uncovered and <a href="/facts/Counterterrorism/XSzTcfND">neutralised</a>. Three males, aged 17, 18 and 19, were arrested for involvement in the plot that was intended to <a href="/facts/Mass_murder/BoUmJhpA">mass murder</a> concert attendees as well as onlookers in the stadium vicinity.
Three concerts of <a href="/facts/The_Eras_Tour/MpbxGjj4">the Eras Tour</a>, Swift's sixth concert tour, were scheduled to take place from 8–10 August 2024 at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion—the penultimate stop of the tour's European leg, in what would have been Swift's first-ever concerts in <a href="/facts/Austria/4qWIMIyc">Austria</a>. The tickets went on sale in July 2023 and all three dates sold out within the first few hours, marking the fastest and largest ticket-sale in Austrian history; over 200,000 people had been expected to attend the shows in the stadium premises. The police detained a suspect of terrorism a day before the first show, stating that the concerts could proceed as planned with additional security measures in place. However, following the arrest of a second suspect and a confirmation by the <a href="/facts/Government_of_Austria/u8uS2LCE">Government of Austria</a> of the extensive terrorist plan to attack the tour and Vienna at-large, Swift's event partner Barracuda Music cancelled the concerts indefinitely—a decision welcomed by Austrian chancellor <a href="/facts/Karl_Nehammer/yMRP6nWL">Karl Nehammer</a>.
Authorities stated that the suspects, who were all teenagers, had been <a href="/facts/Online_youth_radicalization/I9SWNe57">radicalised online</a> and were found to be in possession of <a href="/facts/Explosive/sUme5Pp8">explosive</a> chemicals, <a href="/facts/Knife/6NAX66vY">bladed articles</a>, <a href="/facts/Al-Qaeda/CIQSk3D7">al-Qaeda</a>-related devices, <a href="/facts/Counterfeit_money/Ufu5pI71">counterfeit money</a>, and a car equipped with a <a href="/facts/Siren_(alarm)/RHtWCJJq">police siren</a> for organising a <a href="/facts/Suicide_attack/M5M7TFHv">suicide attack</a> on the concert. The <a href="/facts/Federal_Police_(Austria)/xj0IHzTG">Austrian Federal Police</a>, <a href="/facts/EKO_Cobra/pCfQ2rCc">EKO Cobra</a>, the <a href="/facts/United_States_Intelligence_Community/JLLIfECW">United States Intelligence Community</a>, and <a href="/facts/Europol/LYa1y9KW">Europol</a> collaborated to prevent the attack. Nehammer proposed empowering Austrian <a href="/facts/Law_enforcement/eneRFUdL">law enforcement</a> agencies with the power to decrypt private <a href="/facts/Data_communication/1yAhaANd">digital communications</a> within judicial purview to combat <a href="/facts/Organized_crime/m2eEga1z">organised crime</a>. The Eras Tour's final European shows took place in London's <a href="/facts/Wembley_Stadium/mQC5Bonq">Wembley Stadium</a> with additional security and administrative support from the <a href="/facts/Greater_London_Authority/vLfapVHS">Greater London Authority</a> and <a href="/facts/Metropolitan_Police/GANdhRWR">Metropolitan Police</a>, which in turn gave rise to <a href="/facts/2024_Labour_Party_freebies_controversy/6vbvY5r6">a political controversy in the UK</a>. In June 2025, German public prosecutors charged a <a href="/facts/Syrians/KD2xaJaU">Syrian</a> juvenile in Germany as the fourth suspect of the plot.

2024 Vienna terrorism plot open-in-new

2024 Vienna terrorism plot