Two years ago, when Taylor Swift was in her Eras Tour era, the pop star was playing to tens and hundreds of thousands of fans in (and sometimes outside of) stadiums all over Europe. The forecast that summer was a steady stream of “SwiftQuakes” across the continent. In early August, Taylor had three sold-out concerts scheduled in Vienna when the worst and best happened; the worst was that Austrian authorities had unraveled a terrorist attack planned for one of her concerts, forcing Taylor to cancel all three shows last minute. The best was that no one was harmed. A then 19-year-old suspect was immediately arrested. At the time, the suspect’s lawyer was awfully bullish, claiming Austrian authorities were exaggerating the case all to push their own agenda of beefed up surveillance powers. Well, either the lawyer changed his tune or the suspect changed his lawyer, because the trial just began in Vienna and the defendant, now 21, pleaded guilty:
The man, only referred to as Beran A in accordance with Austria’s privacy policy, attended the opening day of his court trial at the Wiener Neustadt Regional Court, around 37 miles from the capital of Vienna, on Tuesday, April 28.
He faced charges including terror offenses and being a member of a terrorist organization when he was brought into the courtroom, according to Sky News.
Beran A pleaded guilty to the charges relating to the Taylor Swift attack plot, according to Austrian outlet Kronen Zeitung, BBC News and The Guardian. It is unclear what other charges he may have pleaded guilty to.
Around 195,000 Taylor Swift fans were due to attend three sold-out concerts at Vienna’s Ernst Happl Stadium in 2024, per the BBC.
Beran A was arrested on Aug. 7, the day before the first concert, after a tip-off from the CIA. During a search of Beran A’s property, authorities found bomb-making equipment, per the BBC.
All three concerts were canceled as a result, with Swift releasing a statement on Instagram, on August 21, 2024.
She said: “Having our Vienna shows canceled was devastating. 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.”
The “Shake It Off” singer added: “But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.”
Fans remained optimistic by gathering in the city and singing along to her top hits and trading their signature friendship bracelets after the performances were called off.
Beran A went on trial with another man, only known as Arda K. They are both accused of planning attacks in Istanbul, Dubai and Mecca, per BBC and AP.
Only Beran A is charged in connection with the concert plot. The trial is expected to continue until late May.
“But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.” That is without question the most important part of this upsetting incident — that thanks to dedicated and competent intelligence agencies working in concert (couldn’t help myself from the pun!) between countries, a horrific disaster was avoided. Only two years later, and I shudder to think what “help” the current US intelligence agencies could offer, but I digress… I don’t know what persuaded the defendant to plead guilty instead of fighting the charges, but I’m glad he did. Back in 2024, Taylor didn’t comment directly on the whole affair until after she’d safely finished the entire European leg of the tour. That was likely on the advice of authorities, and it was the right thing to do. With this trial, I think Taylor will once again wait until it’s concluded before she makes a statement. Maybe she won’t even say anything until sentencing. After all, she’s pretty preoccupied getting ready for her next era.
Photos credit: Mike Gray/Avalon, Cover Images, Gabriel Luengas/Europa Press/Avalon, Getty Images