Taylor Swift was supposed to be starting the first of a three-night stint in Vienna Austria tonight, but the concerts have all be canceled after an ISIS-inspired plot was discovered. The two teens behind it hoped to kill concert-goers with a combination of bombs and knives.

The main suspect is a 19-year-old man who was radicalized online and swore an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State, Franz Ruf, the head of public safety in Austria, told a news conference on Thursday. Mr. Ruf said the suspect had confessed to the plans shortly after being arrested, giving the police a detailed insight into his intended acts, which included using explosives and weapons to kill as many concert attendees as possible.

Searching the man’s home, where he lived with his parents, the police found explosives, timers, machetes and knives, Mr. Ruf said.

Apparently his goal was to kill as many infidels as possible before the two teens would inevitably be killed themselves. Unlike some of the plots we hear about, this one seems like it was pretty far along. The 19-year-old had quit his job to prepare for it and had a house full of weapons.

He was “clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels,” Haijawi-Pirchner added.

The 19-year-old quit his job on July 25 and made the statement “that he still had big plans.”

The foiled attack was planned for Thursday or Friday, according to Austria’s interior minister, Gerhard Karner...

During a raid of the main suspect’s home in Ternitz, south of Vienna, investigators found chemical substances and technical devices that indicated “concrete preparatory acts,” said Franz Ruf, director general for public security at the Ministry of the Interior.

As for the 17-year-old, he had recently broken up with his girlfriend, apparently in preparation for the attack. Neither of the teens had a ticket to the show but they did have a way in:

The second suspect had only just been employed a few days ago by a company providing services at the venue during the concerts, officials said.

Sources told German news outlet Kurier that he’d been hired to work there as security.

So one guy on the inside and one who planned to drive a car full of explosives into the venue. The plan has some similarities to the attack on Manchester Arena during an Ariana Grande concert in 2017. That attack killed 22 people when when another Islamic extremist, Salman Abedi, detonated a backpack full of explosives inside the foyer of the arena as the concert was ending. Islamic Terrorists have also carried out attacks on concert halls in Paris (2015) and Moscow (earlier this year).

Both of the teens were apparently inspired by ISIS and ISIS-related material was found on their phones. Both were born in Austria but they had backgrounds in Turkey and North Macedonia. There was also a 15-year-old who was questioned by police. He wasn't taking part in the plot but he knew a lot of the details about what was planned. None of the names have been released 

All three concerts were canceled Wednesday night though authorities said they never asked the promoters to do so and there was no longer an imminent threat. More than 150,000 disappointed fans will be able to get the money they spent on tickets back but that won't help those who spent money on travel and lodging in Vienna to attend the shows. So far, Taylor Swift hasn't commented on this.

Update: This blurred out photo of the 19-year-old suspect has been published by several outlets.

NEW: 🇦🇹 OE24 releases the first photo of the Islamist terror suspect arrested for planning to target a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna.

Beran A, 19, held Austrian citizenship but had a migration background. He became radicalized, pledged his allegiance to IS, and boasted about… pic.twitter.com/wN79lePgVd

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) August 8, 2024