Man jailed for 15 years over planned Taylor Swift concert attack in Vienna
Following the incident, Taylor Swift said it left her with a 'new sense of fear'
A 21-year-old Austrian man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for planning to target a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna during the singer’s Eras Tour in August 2024.
The man, identified only as Beran A under Austrian privacy rules, was also convicted of multiple offences, as noted by BBC.
Authorities arrested him after intelligence from US agencies alerted Austrian officials shortly before the first of three sold-out shows at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium. All three concerts were subsequently cancelled, disappointing nearly 200,000 fans and the artist herself.
Taylor Swift later said her record-breaking tour had narrowly “dodged a mass casualty situation.” A tour documentary revealed she learned about the plot while travelling to Austria, describing the experience as deeply unsettling.
Prosecutors said Beran A had stated he attempted, but failed, to illegally acquire weapons, including a machine gun and a hand grenade.
Court-appointed psychiatrist Peter Hoffmann reported that there were no signs of mental illness and said there was “no psychiatric explanation” for his actions, as quoted by the BBC.
The case was heard in Wiener Neustadt, south of Vienna, alongside a second 21-year-old man from Slovakia, Arda K, who was accused of involvement with the same network but not linked to the concert plot. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Beran A expressed remorse in court before the jury delivered its verdict after several hours of deliberation.
Following the incident, Taylor Swift said it left her with a “new sense of fear” and acknowledged feeling a “tremendous amount of guilt” over the cancelled shows. However, she also said she was grateful to authorities, adding: “We were grieving concerts, not lives.”
