The CIA has revealed that the two suspects who led to the cancellation of Taylor Swift’s concert in Vienna planned to kill ‘thousands’ of audience members.
Swift, 34, was forced to cancel three concerts in Vienna earlier this month after it was suspected that her Eras Tour in Austria would be the target of a terrorist attack.
It has now emerged that the suspects were planning to ‘kill a huge number’ of concert-goers.
‘They were plotting to kill a huge number — tens of thousands of people at this concert, including I am sure many Americans — and were quite advanced in this,’ said CIA Deputy Director, David Cohen, at the annual Intelligence and National Security Summit yesterday.
‘The Austrians were able to make those arrests because the agency and our partners in the intelligence community provided them information about what this Isis-connected group was planning to do.’
Upwards of 30,000 fans were expected to gather outside the stadium at this performance, with 60,000 more fans inside the Ernst Happel Stadium.
The two suspects, a 19-year-old and a 17-year-old, were taken into custody on August 8, and the day after the concert cancellation was announced. Another third suspect was then later arrested.
It was believed that the 19-year-old recently joined Isis and images of him have since emerged of him posing with two large knives.
It was thought that the suspects planned to attack the venue with knives and homemade explosives. During a raid, chemical substances and technical devices were discovered.
It has since emerged that this isn’t the first time that the singer has been mentioned in Jihadi talks and reports suggest Swift has been a longstanding terror target.
A notice posted on Barracuda Music announced the cancellation of the shows in Vienna was because of a ‘planned terrorist attack.’
‘Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Vienna Shows Cancelled Due to Government Officials Confirmation of Planned Terrorist Attack.
‘With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety.
‘All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days.’
In a lengthy post about wrapping up the European leg of her Eras Tour, Swift addressed the cancellation of her concerts in Vienna.
‘Having our Vienna shows cancelled 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.
‘But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.’
She added that she chose not to speak out at the time, in order to protect fans.
‘Let me be very clear: I am not going to speak about something publicly if I think doing so might provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my shows.’
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