A 21-year-old Austrian identified as Beran A. pleaded guilty as his trial opened in connection with a plot to attack one of Taylor Swift’s canceled Vienna concerts, Austrian media reported. Beran faces terrorism-related charges, including membership in a terrorist organization, and could receive up to 20 years in prison. His defense lawyer said he intended to plead guilty to most charges but did not detail which counts.
Swiss and U.S. intelligence warnings led Austrian authorities to cancel Swift’s three August 2024 performances. The decision left fans — many who had traveled internationally — disappointed; they nevertheless turned parts of Vienna into spontaneous gatherings marked by friendship bracelets and singalongs.
Prosecutors say Beran planned to target crowds outside the Ernst Happel Stadium, where up to 30,000 people gathered outside each night and about 65,000 attended inside, and intended to use knives or homemade explosives to “kill as many people as possible.” Investigators allege he communicated with other Islamic State members, discussed weapon purchases and bomb-making, and attempted to procure arms illegally in the days before the shows. Police searched his apartment on Aug. 7, 2024 — a day before the concerts were due to begin — and reported finding bomb-making materials.
Beran A. is on trial alongside another suspect, Arda K.; a third man, identified as Hasan E., is connected to related alleged plots. Prosecutors say the three planned simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates during Ramadan 2024, though only Beran was charged in the Vienna concert plot and authorities say the broader plans were not carried out. Arda K. is charged in relation to the planned simultaneous attacks. Hasan E. is accused of stabbing a security guard at the Grand Mosque in Mecca on March 11, 2024, and remains in pretrial detention in Saudi Arabia.
The trial is being held in Wiener Neustadt, about an hour south of Vienna, with proceedings scheduled to continue on May 12. The Vienna cancellations prompted comparisons to the 2017 Manchester concert suicide bombing that killed 22 people; Swift called the Vienna cancellations “devastating,” saying the threat filled her with fear and expressing remorse for fans unable to attend.
