A 16-year-old Syrian national has received a suspended sentence after a failed terror plot targeted Taylor Swift’s shows in Vienna last year.
According to the BBC, prosecutors said the individual identified as Mohamed A. was radicalized by Islamic State propaganda on the internet. At 14-years-old, he helped a would-be attacker by translating bomb-making instructions from Arabic and putting him in contact with an ISIS member. Mohamed made a full confession to the charges and was handed an 18-month suspended sentence under juvenile criminal law.
Another investigation into the main suspect, 20-year-old Austrian Beran A, is still ongoing. Beran was detained before carrying out the plot following a tip by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA.)
Four of Swift’s shows at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium were called-off last year after news broke of a planned terrorist attack. CIA deputy director David Cohen said the Austrian authorities were able to disrupt the plot and save “hundreds of lives.”
“They were plotting to kill a huge number — tens of thousands of people at this concert, included I am sure many Americans — and were quite advanced in this,” Cohen said. “The Austrians were able to make those arrests because the agency and our partners in the intelligence community provided them with information about what the ISIS-connected group was planning to do.”
The General Director for Public Security in Austria said the suspects had “concrete preparatory measures” for a terrorist attack after police suspected explosives were stored at the home of the suspect in Ternitz.
Across the three days, 65,000 Swifties were expected to attend, with another 22,000 expected to listen from outside of the stadium.
