Foiled attack on Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna: who wants to harm the American singer?

Austrian authorities have arrested two radicalised individuals. One of them, a 19-year-old who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, was planning an attack that was focused on the star’s Austrian concerts, the head of public security said. Chemical substances were found at the suspect’s home.

Beyond the numbers and records, Taylor Swift is changing the rules of the game in the music industry

Less than two weeks ago, a knife attack left two people dead and more than ten injured, some of whom were in critical condition, in Southport, near Liverpool. The alleged perpetrator was a 17-year-old. He had attacked a dance class that had the theme of the singer Taylor Swift. The singer reacted via social networks, saying she was shocked by what had happened: “They were just young children taking part in a dance class.”

Which begs the question: who has it in for the pop star and why?

Taylor Swift has said she is horrified by the knife attack in Southport, England, during a dance class. ©afp or licensors

In Southport as in Vienna, it does not seem that Taylor Swift is the person targeted. In England, the police quickly indicated that they were not focusing on the terrorist lead. While in Vienna, on the other hand, there is no doubt that it is indeed a terrorist threat, several experts, including Mathieu Colin, from the UNESCO Chair in the Prevention of Radicalization and Violent Extremism, quoted by the Canadian media TVA Nouvelles, agree that what was targeted was the scale of Taylor Swift’s concerts and therefore the visibility they offer. No fewer than 170,000 people were expected to attend on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. “It is mainly about targeting an event which has absolutely major international media visibility, he explained. The aim of the attack itself is to cause a shock wave that benefits the terrorist group that allegedly carried it out.”

Precedents: the Bataclan, Manchester and the Crocus City in Moscow

“This is a modus operandi on the part of the jihadist group, of extremist groups more broadly, which is already very well known,” he said, recalling precedents such as the attack on the Bataclan on November 13, 2015, which left 90 dead and hundreds injured. Or the suicide attack claimed by the Islamic State at the exit of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester on May 22, 2017. A bomb killed 22 people, including children, and injured 237 others.

Another example is the more recent attack on the Crocus City Hall shopping mall in Moscow. That was on March 22. At least 145 people were killed, mainly in the concert hall of the complex that was to host the Piknik group. There were also more than 550 injured.

Moscow attack: National mourning in Russia after Crocus City Hall massacre