A German court convicted a 16-year-old Syrian teenager of involvement in a foiled terrorist plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Austria last year and sentenced him to an 18-month suspended term under juvenile law.
The ruling comes at a time when the pop icon announced her engagement to Travis Kelce.
Identified only as Mohammad A under German privacy rules, the defendant was 14 when the plot unfolded. Judges ruled that he embraced the ideology of the so-called Islamic State (IS) and communicated via social media with an Austrian accomplice who had planned the Vienna attack.
The court said Mohammad A sent his acquaintance a video with bomb-making instructions and arranged contact with an IS member. He gave a “comprehensive confession” during his closed-door trial. The verdict is open to appeal.
“The defendant sent him a video with instructions on how to build a bomb and put him in contact with an IS member,” the court said.
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Three Concerts Canceled
Austrian authorities uncovered the plot on 7 August 2024, forcing the cancellation of three Swift concerts in Vienna. Police arrested three teenagers, including a 19-year-old Austrian man described as the main suspect. Investigators alleged he intended to target fans outside the stadium with knives or homemade explosives and later found chemicals and technical devices in his home. The Austrian probe is still underway.
In a statement on Instagram, Swift called the cancellations “devastating,” saying they left her with fear and guilt because of the many fans who had planned to attend. She thanked authorities, writing: “Thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.”
According to the US foreign intelligence service, the plotters aimed to kill a large number of concertgoers.
Record Breaking Eras Tour
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour set the record as the most commercially successful tour of all time, generating more than double the revenue of the previous record-holder. After the tour’s final show in Vancouver, her company, Taylor Swift Touring, disclosed the official revenue as $2,077,618,725.
