Current:Home > MyPolice Weigh in on Taylor Swift's London Concerts After Alleged Terror Attack Plot Foiled in Vienna -DollarDynamic
Police Weigh in on Taylor Swift's London Concerts After Alleged Terror Attack Plot Foiled in Vienna
View
Date:2025-04-23 02:02:00
Taylor Swift's concerts in London will go on.
While the “Blank Space” singer's three shows in Vienna were canceled in the wake of a foiled potential terror attack, five shows at Wembley Stadium will take place as scheduled, according to London Metropolitan Police.
"The Met works closely with venue security teams and other partners to ensure there are appropriate security and policing plans in place," a spokesperson for the organization told multiple outlets. "There is nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London."
The spokesperson added, "As always, we will continue to keep any new information under careful review."
Swift will close out the European leg of her Eras Tour in Wembley, playing five shows from Aug. 15 to Aug. 20.
The confirmation of Swift’s upcoming concerts comes as new information regarding the foiled terror plot continues to emerge.
On Aug. 6, authorities in Austria arrested an Austrian man, 19, over an alleged plot to carry out a suicide attack at a Swift concert in Vienna, which prompted the cancellation of all three of her upcoming shows in the city's Ernst-Happel-Stadion soccer stadium, which were to take place between Aug. 8 and Aug. 10 and draw an estimated 170,000 fans.
"I'm sure Vienna has got its own reasons to cancel the Taylor Swift concerts," London Mayor Sadiq Khan told Sky News. "We're going to carry on, working closely with police [and] ensuring that the Taylor Swift concerts can take place in London safely."
The suspect of the foiled Vienna attack had confessed that he had planned to kill himself and a large number of other people with knives and explosive devices, Austrian officials said in a press conference Aug. 8.
The man, an Austrian citizen with North Macedonian roots, had downloaded manuals for bomb building and authorities found knives, a machete, hydrogen peroxide, homemade explosives, detonators and detonator cables at his apartment, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, director of Austria's domestic intelligence service, told reporters.
The suspect had been planning to attack the tens of thousands of Swift fans expected to gather outside the stadium in Vienna, Haijawi-Pirchner said at the press conference, per Reuters.
Haijawi-Pirchner added that the suspect had consumed radical Islamist propaganda, mainly from Islamic State and Al Qaeda. The official also told Austria’s public broadcaster ORF that the man had uploaded an oath of allegiance to the current leader of Islamic State to an internet account just a few weeks ago, NBC News reported.
In addition to the 19-year-old, police detained two other Austrians aged 17 and 15 in connection with the reported attack plot. Haijawi-Pirchner told reporters Islamic State and Al Qaeda material was found at the home of the older teen, who he said was employed for some days by a company that was to provide unspecified services at the venue for the Swift concerts, NBC News said.
"We have prevented a terrorist attack by a suicide bomber," Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said, via German translation, on X. It is a success that we have prevented any deaths."
Islamic State, also known as ISIS, had claimed responsibility for a 2017 suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in the U.K. city that killed 22 people, including children, and injured more than 200.
London's mayor said they were "looking forward to welcoming Taylor Swift back" to his city, where she had performed three concerts in June, when she was joined on and off stage by boyfriend Travis Kelce.
"We have a huge amount of experience in policing these events, we're never complacent," Khan said. "Many lessons were learnt after the awful Manchester Arena attack."
News of the foiled attack plot in Austria comes a week after a man, who recently turned 18, was arrested for allegedly killing three girls at a Swift-themed dance class in Southport. He faces three counts of murder plus 10 counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article over the fatal stabbing. The motive for the attack has not been released.
(E! and NBC News are part of the NBCUniversal family.)
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (1775)
Related
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- Dear Life Kit: How do I get out of my pandemic rut? Michelle Obama weighs in
- The Mugler H&M Collection Is Here at Last— & It's a Fashion Revolution
- DNC Platform Calls for Justice Dept. to Investigate Fossil Fuel Companies
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- Exxon’s Climate Fraud Trial Nears Its End: What Does the State Have to Prove to Win?
- Tori Spelling's Kids Taken to Urgent Care After Falling Ill From Mold Infestation at Home
- 'Sunny Makes Money': India installs a record volume of solar power in 2022
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- ‘Threat Map’ Aims to Highlight the Worst of Oil and Gas Air Pollution
Ranking
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- In the hunt for a male contraceptive, scientists look to stop sperm in their tracks
- Unabomber Ted Kaczynski found dead in prison cell
- Mother’s Day Last-Minute Gifts: Coach, Sephora, Nordstrom & More With Buy Now, Pick Up In Store
- Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
- Too Hot to Handle's Francesca Farago Shares Plans to Freeze Eggs After Jesse Sullivan Engagement
- Prince Harry Receives Apology From Tabloid Publisher Amid Hacking Trial
- Meet Tiffany Chen: Everything We Know About Robert De Niro's Girlfriend
Recommendation
Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
Tracy Anderson Reveals Jennifer Lopez's Surprising Fitness Mindset
Scottish Scientists Develop Whisky Biofuel
Today’s Climate: August 23, 2010
House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
Heat Wave Safety: 130 Groups Call for Protections for Farm, Construction Workers
Mother’s Day Last-Minute Gifts: Coach, Sephora, Nordstrom & More With Buy Now, Pick Up In Store
Why China's 'zero COVID' policy is finally faltering