Current:Home > MySurpassing Quant Think Tank Center|US confirms role in identifying alleged terrorist plot for Taylor Swift shows -Capitatum
Surpassing Quant Think Tank Center|US confirms role in identifying alleged terrorist plot for Taylor Swift shows
Johnathan Walker View
Date:2025-04-06 06:02:11
U.S. officials have Surpassing Quant Think Tank Centerconfirmed their role in identifying a suspected terrorist plot planned for a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna this weekend.
During a Friday briefing, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said the U.S. provided information to Austrian authorities, who have made several arrests in relation to the alleged foiled attack.
"We work closely with partners all over the world to monitor and disrupt threats," Kirby said. "And so as part of that work, the United States did share information with Austrian partners to enable the disruption of a threat to Taylor Swift's concerts there in Vienna."
Three people have been arrested in relation to the suspected terrorist plot. The suspects are an 18-year-old Iraqi national, a 19-year-old Austrian living in a town near the Hungarian border, and a 17-year-old boy who had been hired by a company that was to provide services to the Ernst Happel Stadium.
A 15-year-old was questioned by police about his possible role in the scheme. According to the Vienna-based Kurier newspaper, the 15-year-old was allowed to go home after being questioned as a witness and was not considered a suspect.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
What we know about the alleged terrorist plot planned for Taylor Swift's shows
On Wednesday, after Vienna Federal Ministry of the Interior officials confirmed arrests were made in relation to "planned attacks at major events," Swift's three planned shows at Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Saturday were canceled "for everyone's safety," according to the Austrian shows' promoter.
Swift has yet to speak out on the alleged terrorist plot.
Austrian security officials said the 19-year-old suspect had been consuming Islamist propaganda and planned an attack on fans involving "bladed weapons as well as the construction of a bomb," according to a press release provided by the Vienna Federal Ministry of the Interior on Thursday.
During a search of his home, officials found "chemical substances, liquids, explosive and technical devices that could be used to manufacture explosives," said Franz Ruf, director general for public security. Bomb-making instructions and machetes were also found.
'Inspiring and healing':Thousands of fans flood Vienna streets to sing Taylor Swift hits
"He wanted to carry out an attack in the area outside the stadium, killing as many people as possible using the knives or even using the explosive devices he had made," according to national intelligence head Omar Haijawi-Pirchner.
The suspect, who had recently quit his job and said he had "big plans," swore allegiance to ISIS and fully confessed to the charges against him, officials said. Austrian authorities are not searching for any more suspects.
London's Metropolitan Police has confirmed Swift's five concerts at Wembley Stadium next week should not be impacted.
Contributing: Michael Collins and Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY; Rachel More and Miranda Murray, Reuters
veryGood! (4682)
Related
- US Open player compensation rises to a record $65 million, with singles champs getting $3.6 million
- A black market, a currency crisis, and a tango competition in Argentina
- 5 dead as train strikes SUV in Florida, sheriff says
- 2 dead, 2 hurt following early morning shooting at Oahu boat harbor
- RFK Jr. closer to getting on New Jersey ballot after judge rules he didn’t violate ‘sore loser’ law
- Russian foreign minister lambastes the West but barely mentions Ukraine in UN speech
- Not RoboCop, but a new robot is patrolling New York's Times Square subway station
- Brian Austin Green and Sharna Burgess Are Engaged
- Vance jokes he’s checking out his future VP plane while overlapping with Harris at Wisconsin airport
- Cracks in Western wall of support for Ukraine emerge as Eastern Europe and US head toward elections
Ranking
- FBI: California woman brought sword, whip and other weapons into Capitol during Jan. 6 riot
- Ophelia slams Mid-Atlantic with powerful rain and winds after making landfall in North Carolina
- What to know about NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission
- Salt water wedge in the Mississippi River threatens drinking water in Louisiana
- Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
- AP PHOTOS: In the warming Alps, Austria’s melting glaciers are in their final decades
- 'Penalties won us the game': NC State edges Virginia in wild, penalty-filled finish
- Indianapolis police wound 2 robbery suspects after 1 suspect fires at pursuing officers
Recommendation
'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
Mel Tucker changed his story, misled investigator in Michigan State sexual harassment case
How will the Top 25 clashes shake out? Bold predictions for Week 4 in college football
Brian Austin Green and Sharna Burgess Are Engaged
How breaking emerged from battles in the burning Bronx to the Paris Olympics stage
Birthplace of the atomic bomb braces for its biggest mission since the top-secret Manhattan Project
At the edge of the UN security perimeter, those with causes (and signs) try to be heard
Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery Marries Jasper Waller-Bridge