Man pleads guilty to plotting attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna
[April 29, 2026]
By PHILIPP JENNE, MATTHIAS SCHRADER and STEFANIE DAZIO
WIENER NEUSTADT, Austria (AP) — A man accused of pledging allegiance to
the Islamic State group and plotting to attack one of superstar singer
Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna nearly two years ago pleaded guilty as
his trial began on Tuesday, his lawyer said.
The plot was thwarted, but Austrian authorities still canceled Swift’s
three performances in August 2024. The singer’s fans, known as Swifties,
who had flown to Austria from across the globe to attend a performance
of her record-setting Eras Tour were devastated, but rallied to turn
Vienna into a citywide trading post for friendship bracelets and
singalongs.
The defendant, a 21-year-old Austrian citizen known only as Beran A. in
line with Austrian privacy rules, faced charges including terrorist
offenses and membership in a terrorist organization. He could be
sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, and has been in custody since
August 2024.
The Vienna plot drew comparisons to a 2017 attack by a suicide bomber at
an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people.
The bomb detonated at the end of Grande’s concert as thousands of young
fans were leaving, becoming the deadliest extremist attack in the United
Kingdom in recent years.
Defendant regrets his actions
Anna Mair, his defense attorney, said her client pleaded guilty to the
charges related to the concert plot.
“Of course, he deeply regrets it all,” Mair said outside the court,
adding that “he says it was the biggest mistake of his life.”
Austrian media reported that he also pleaded guilty to being a member of
a terrorist organization.
Beran A. is facing trial alongside Arda K., whose full name also has not
been made public. They, along with a third man, planned to carry out
simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab
Emirates during Ramadan in 2024 in the name of the Islamic State group.
Beran A. and Arda K. never carried out their attacks.
Only Beran A. was charged in connection with the concert plot. He
pleaded not guilty to the charges related to the plot for simultaneous
attacks.
He allegedly planned to target onlookers gathered outside Ernst Happel
Stadium — up to 30,000 each night, with another 65,000 inside the venue
— with knives or homemade explosives. The suspect hoped to “kill as many
people as possible,” authorities said in 2024. The U.S. provided
intelligence that fed into the decision to cancel the concerts.
Beran A. also allegedly networked with other members of the Islamic
State group ahead of the planned attack. Prosecutors say they discussed
purchasing weapons and making bombs, and that the defendant also sought
to illegally buy weapons in the days ahead of the performance. In
addition, he swore allegiance to the militant group.
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Defendant Beran A. is hiding his face behind file folders when he is
escorted out of the courtroom in the District Court in Wiener
Neustadt, Austria, where he stands trial for plotting to carry out
an attack on one of superstar singer Taylor Swift's concerts in
Vienna in August 2024 and pledging allegiance to the Islamic State
group, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Authorities searched his apartment on Aug. 7, 2024, and found
bomb-making materials. The concerts were scheduled to begin the next
day.
“Having our Vienna shows canceled was devastating,” Swift wrote in a
statement posted to Instagram two weeks later. “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.”
A representative for Swift did not immediately return a request for
comment Tuesday.
The trial is being held in Wiener Neustadt, about an hour south of
Vienna. The proceedings are set to continue May 12.
Three attacks planned in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and UAE
Prosecutors have also filed terrorism-related charges against Arda
K. in the trial in connection with the plan for simultaneous attacks
in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
The third man in that plot, Hasan E., allegedly stabbed a security
guard with a knife at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on
March 11, 2024. He was arrested and remains in pretrial detention in
Saudi Arabia, Austrian prosecutors said.
Beran A. and Arda K. did not carry out their plans in Turkey and the
UAE. Beran A. returned to Vienna and then allegedly began plotting
to attack a Swift concert there.
___
Dazio reported from Berlin. Daniel Niemann in Cologne, Germany,
contributed to this report.
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