Austria Charges Man in Thwarted Attack on Taylor Swift Concert

The foiled plot led to the cancellation of three shows in 2024 that Ms. Swift had planned for Austria during her Eras tour.Police officers watching as Taylor Swift fans gather in Vienna in 2024.Credit...Heinz-Peter Bader/Associated PressFeb. 17, 2026, 5:51 a.m. ETProsecutors in Austria said on Monday that they had filed terrorism and other charges against a 21-year-old man they said was a member of a terrorist group that was planning an attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024.The suspect, who was not publicly identified, professed his allegiance to the Islamic State group online, prosecutors said. The attack was thwarted but worries over safety led to the cancellation of three shows the artist had planned in Austria.The main aim was to attack the concert, according to prosecutors, who also accused the man of downloading instructions from ISIS for a shrapnel bomb “specifically designed” for terror attacks. The suspect was charged with receiving instructions on handling and using the materials, the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office said.The man is also accused of having repeatedly tried to buy firearms and a hand grenade, and instructing illegal dealers to import the weapons into Austria.The suspect, who has been in custody since August 2024, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, prosecutors said.The initial tip about a threat against Ms. Swift’s concerts came from American intelligence, Austrian officials have said.The shows were part of Ms. Swift’s Eras tour, and had been expected to draw tens of thousands of fans.The threat followed deadly attacks on concert halls. In 2015, an ISIS attack on a Paris concert hall and other sites killed 130 people, and in 2017, an attack on an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, killed at least 22 people. The bomber in the Manchester attack, who died in the assault, had links to ISIS. Prosecutors in Germany last year charged a Syrian teenager living in Germany with helping plot the thwarted Vienna concert attack.In that case, prosecutors accused the teenager, whom they identified only as Mohammad A. in keeping with privacy rules, of helping interpret Arabic-language bomb-building instructions and of translating an oath of allegiance to ISIS for the main suspect in the Austria plot. The teen was about 14 years old when the plot was thwarted, and he was convicted and given an 18-month suspended sentence under juvenile criminal law.Christopher F. Schuetze contributed reporting.Ephrat Livni is a Times reporter covering breaking news around the world. She is based in Washington.SKIP Site IndexNewsHome PageU.S.WorldPoliticsNew YorkEducationSportsBusinessTechScienceWeatherThe Great ReadObituariesHeadwayVisual InvestigationsThe MagazineArtsBook ReviewBest Sellers Book ListDanceMoviesMusicPop CultureTelevisionTheaterVisual ArtsLifestyleHealthWellFoodRestaurant ReviewsLoveTravelStyleFashionReal EstateT MagazineOpinionToday's OpinionColumnistsEditorialsGuest EssaysOp-DocsLettersSunday OpinionOpinion VideoOpinion AudioMoreAudioGamesCookingWirecutterThe AthleticJobsVideoGraphicsTrendingLive EventsCorrectionsReader CenterTimesMachineThe Learning NetworkSchool of The NYTinEducationAccountSubscribeManage My AccountHome DeliveryGift SubscriptionsGroup SubscriptionsGift ArticlesEmail NewslettersNYT LicensingReplica EditionTimes Store