A fourth teenager has been arrested in connection to the thwarted terror plot aimed at one of Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna last summer.
Germany’s prosecutor general has charged a Syrian national, identified only as Mohammad A., with supporting a terrorist organization abroad and preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state, according to a press release issued Friday. Authorities say the teen remains at large.
“Mohammad A. has adhered to the ideology of the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) since April 2024,” officials said in the translated statement. “In the period from mid-July to August 2024, he was in contact with a teenager from Austria who planned an explosive attack on a music concert of the singer Taylor Swift in Vienna. The accused helped the teenager with his preparations by, among other things, translating bomb-building instructions from Arabic for him and establishing contact with an IS member abroad via the internet.”
Authorities also accuse the newest suspect of having “sent the teenager a text template for the Oath of Allegiance to IS, which the latter used to join the organization as a member.”
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to the Daily News’ request for comment.
Grammy-winning Swift, 35, canceled her three shows set for Austria’s Ernst Happel Stadium last August amid news that police had arrested two teenage Austrian citizens in the foiled terror plot. A third teenager was also quickly arrested. All three are believed to have been radicalized online.
Concert organizers at the time said they had “no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety,” following “confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack.”
The lead suspect, 19 years old at the time of his arrest, told authorities he hoped “to kill as many as possible.” A 17-year-old and 18-year-old were also arrested at the time.
Swift broke her silence on the “devastating” plot exactly two weeks after news of the canceled shows.
“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,” Swift said at the time. “But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.”
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) cited the would-be attack before the Senate Intelligence Committee earlier this year as reason to work in conjunction with allies: “That sharing of information saves lives, and it’s not hypothetical.”
