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VIENNA (AP) — A 3rd teen arrested successful transportation with a foiled crippled to onslaught 3 Taylor Swift concerts successful Vienna pledged an “oath of allegiance” to the Islamic State group, an Austrian authoritative said Friday.
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said an 18-year-old was taken into custody Thursday evening successful Vienna aft allegedly being successful interaction with the main suspect. Karner announced the 18-year-old’s apprehension during an unrelated quality league Friday.
“He had been successful interaction with the main perpetrator, but is not straight connected to the onslaught plans,” Karner said. “But, arsenic was recovered retired a fewer days ago, helium took an oath of allegiance specifically to the IS connected Aug. 6.”
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier communicative follows below.
VIENNA (AP) — A 3rd teen has been arrested successful transportation with a foiled onslaught connected now-canceled Taylor Swift concerts successful Vienna, Austria's interior curate said Friday.
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said an 18-year-old was taken into custody Thursday evening successful Vienna aft allegedly being successful interaction with the main suspect. Karner announced the apprehension during an unrelated quality league Friday.
The 19-year-old main fishy and a 17-year-old were arrested Tuesday, portion a 15-year-old was besides interrogated but was not arrested. Officials said Thursday day that nary further suspects were being sought. They did not instantly connection further details Friday.
Authorities accidental the crippled appeared to person been inspired by the Islamic State radical and al-Qaida. Investigators recovered bomb-making materials astatine 1 of the suspects' homes. Officials accidental a fishy has confessed to readying to “kill arsenic galore radical arsenic imaginable extracurricular the performance venue.”
Three sold-out concerts were canceled Wednesday due to the fact that of the plot, devastating Swifties from crossed the globe. Many of them had dropped thousands of euros (dollars) connected question and lodging successful Austria’s costly superior metropolis to be the Eras Tour shows astatine the Ernst Happel Stadium, which sat bare Thursday morning.
Europe is enamored with the American superstar: The German municipality of Gelsenkirchen renamed itself “Swiftkirchen” earlier its mid-July concerts.
Concert organizers successful Austria said they had expected up to 65,000 fans wrong the stadium astatine each performance and arsenic galore arsenic 30,000 onlookers outside, wherever authorities said the suspects planned to strike. The foiled onslaught was planned for Thursday oregon Friday, according to Austria’s interior minister, Gerhard Karner.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer defended the determination to cancel the concerts, saying the arrests of the suspects took spot excessively adjacent to the shows, scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
“I recognize precise good that those who wanted to acquisition the performance unrecorded are precise sad,” Nehammer told a quality league Thursday. “Moms and dads are looking aft their daughters and sons, who were afloat of enthusiasm and anticipation for this concert. But it’s besides important that successful specified superior moments arsenic now, it’s inevitable that information comes first.”
Swift is besides scheduled to execute astatine London’s Wembley stadium successful 5 concerts betwixt Aug. 15 and 20 to adjacent the European limb of her record-setting Eras Tour.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that portion helium understood Vienna’s reasons for canceling, “We’re going to transportation on.” Khan said the capital’s authorities were prepared for shows determination pursuing lessons learned from a 2017 onslaught astatine an Ariana Grande performance successful Manchester, England, that killed 22 people.
A termination bomber had acceptable up a knapsack with explosives successful Manchester Arena. The weaponry detonated astatine the extremity of Grande’s performance arsenic thousands of young fans were leaving.
Last month, an attacker successful England killed 3 girls and wounded 10 radical successful a weapon onslaught during a Taylor Swift-themed creation and yoga class. Swift astatine the clip said she was ‘’completely successful shock’’ implicit the violence.
In Austria, the main fishy confessed that helium had started readying the onslaught successful July, authorities said. The 19-year-old conscionable a fewer weeks agone uploaded to the net an oath of allegiance to the existent person of the Islamic State group.
He was “clearly radicalized successful the absorption of the Islamic State and thinks it is close to termination infidels,” said Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, caput of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence.
Haijawi-Pirchner added that the fishy "wanted to transportation retired an onslaught successful the country extracurricular the stadium, sidesplitting arsenic galore radical arsenic imaginable utilizing the knives oregon adjacent utilizing the explosive devices helium had made."
During a raid of the suspect's location successful Ternitz, southbound of Vienna, investigators recovered chemic substances and method devices that indicated “concrete preparatory acts,” said Franz Ruf, manager wide for nationalist information astatine the Ministry of the Interior.
Authorities said they besides recovered Islamic State radical and al-Qaida worldly astatine the location of the 2nd suspect, who is 17. That suspect, who has truthful acold refused to talk, was employed a fewer days agone by a institution providing unspecified services astatine the venue for the concerts.
Both teens were arrested Tuesday. Neither of their names was released, successful enactment with Austrian privateness rules.
The suspects had undergone wide societal changes recently, authorities said. The 19-year-old had discontinue his occupation but said helium “still had large plans,” portion the different broke up with his girlfriend. Neither fishy appeared to person a summons to immoderate of the shows, Haijawi-Pirchner said.
Karner said that Austria's quality work had worked intimately unneurotic with overseas quality services to seizure the 2 teens. He did not place the agencies, but added that the assistance was needed due to the fact that Austrian investigators, dissimilar immoderate overseas services, can't legally show substance messages.
The CIA declined to accidental Thursday whether U.S. quality agencies played immoderate relation successful the investigation. The U.S. State Department and the broader U.S. authorities person been successful interaction with Austrian officials astir the alleged plot, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
No different suspects are being sought, though a 15-year-old who had been successful interaction with some suspects was besides interrogated by police, Karner said.
“The concern is serious. But we tin besides say: A calamity was prevented,” helium said.
Concert organizer Barracuda Music said successful an Instagram station precocious Wednesday that it had "no prime but to cancel the 3 scheduled shows for everyone’s safety.”
Barracuda said each tickets would beryllium refunded. The aforesaid connection was posted nether the Vienna dates connected Swift’s authoritative website. Austrian obstruction relation OeBB successful the meantime said that it would reimburse fans for unused bid tickets for the concerts.
Swift has not spoken publically astir the crippled oregon canceled shows. “Taylor Nation,” a verified Instagram leafage wide believed to beryllium tally by her team, reposted the announcement from Barracuda Music successful a “story,” which is lone disposable for 24 hours. Her main relationship has not posted anything.
Swift’s biggest fearfulness has ever been that specified large-scale unit could instrumentality spot astatine her concerts, the superstar told Elle mag successful 2019 up of her Lover Tour, which was yet canceled due to the fact that of the coronavirus pandemic. The onslaught astatine Grande’s concert, arsenic good arsenic a 2017 wide shooting astatine an outdoor state euphony festival connected the Las Vegas Strip wherever 58 radical were killed, disquieted Swift arsenic she prepared to ellipse the globe.
“I was wholly terrified to spell connected (the Lover Tour) this clip due to the fact that I didn’t cognize however we were going to support 3 cardinal fans harmless implicit 7 months,” she told the magazine. “There was a tremendous magnitude of planning, expense, and effort enactment into keeping my fans safe.”
An authoritative enquiry reported successful 2023 that Britain’s home quality agency, MI5, didn’t enactment swiftly capable connected cardinal accusation and missed a important accidental to forestall the Manchester bombing, the deadliest extremist onslaught successful the United Kingdom successful caller years.
Terrorism adept Magnus Ranstorp, based astatine the Swedish Defense University successful Stockholm, told The Associated Press by telephone that immoderate wide nationalist lawsuit constitutes a imaginable menace now.
“So we shouldn’t beryllium amazed that these highly fashionable iconic popstars that pull a monolithic assemblage volition besides pull terrorists that privation to make fearfulness and demolition and mayhem," helium said.
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Dazio and Grieshaber reported from Berlin. Associated Press writers Jan M. Olsen successful Copenhagen, Denmark; Vanessa Gera successful Warsaw, Poland; Danica Kirka successful London; and David Klepper and Ellen Knickmeyer successful Washington contributed to this report.
