The thwarted terrorist attack on a Taylor Swift Eras Tour concert in Vienna was intended “to kill a huge number, tens of thousands of people,” including Americans, according to the deputy director of the CIA.
At the annual Intelligence Summit just outside Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, David S. Cohen shared an update on the investigation into the planned terrorist plot earlier this month, which resulted in the pop star canceling all her shows in Austria’s capital.
“They were plotting to kill a huge number, tens of thousands of people at this concert, I am sure many Americans,” Cohen said, as reported by The New York Times. “The Austrians were able to make those arrests because the agency and our partners in the intelligence community provided them information about what this ISIS-connected group was planning to do.”
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On Aug. 7, Austrian concert promoter Barracuda Music announced that the three Eras Tour shows scheduled at the Ernst Happel Stadium would be canceled over an apparent terrorist plot. Austrian authorities have since arrested three people accused of plotting the attack, including one who was found with bomb-making material.
Cohen emphasized they had no doubt that the goal of the plot was to attack the Eras Tor show, killing a large number of concertgoers.
Weeks following the cancellation of the shows, Swift broke her silence on the planned attacks, as well as expressed gratitude to the authorities. “Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating,” she wrote on Instagram. “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows.”
The superstar continued, “But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives. I was heartened by the love and unity I saw in the fans who banded together.”
Cohen did not share how the C.I.A. learned of the planned attack. The Times reported that 200,000 people were expected to attend Swift’s Vienna shows.
