An Austrian court on May 28 sentenced a 21-year-old man to 15 years in prison for planning a terror attack at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concerts in Vienna in August 2024, pitchfork.com reports.
The defendant, identified as Beran A., was convicted in connection with the foiled plot to target fans outside Ernst-Happel-Stadion with knives or homemade explosives. He was 19 when authorities say he planned the attack.
Prosecutors said Beran A. communicated with Islamic State members and attempted to buy weapons illegally before the shows. A police search of his home on August 7, 2024 found bomb-making materials, according to the AP. BBC News reported investigators also alleged he plotted a separate attack in Dubai in 2024.
All three of Swift’s scheduled Vienna dates were cancelled after police arrested three people linked to the plot. Nearly 200,000 people had been expected to attend.
One suspect, a Syrian national identified as Mohamed A., was 14 and living in Germany at the time. He received an 18-month suspended sentence under juvenile law in August 2025. A third suspect was released without charge.
Beran A.’s defence attorney said he admitted to the charges when the trial opened in April. He was tried alongside Arda K. and Hasan E., who allegedly planned concurrent attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE during Ramadan 2024. Only Beran A. faced charges over the Swift concert plot.
Addressing the court on May 28 before the verdict, Beran A. said: “I would just like to say that I am sorry.”
Swift addressed the cancellations on Instagram two weeks after the shows were called off. She said the reason “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.”
