Two men were arrested in Austria Wednesday for allegedly planning extremist attacks on major events in the Vienna area, including one of Taylor Swift’s upcoming concerts.
Authorities said that the main suspect, a 19-year-old from Vienna, made “preparatory actions” for an attack and “that there is a focus by the 19-year-old perpetrator on the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna,” per The Associated Press.
Franz Ruf, the public security director of Austria’s interior ministry, said the suspect pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State group. Both he and the other suspect are believed to have become radicalized on the internet, AP reported.
Austrian officials are now evaluating chemical substances a bomb squad found in the 19-year-old’s possession following his arrest in Ternitz, a town south of Vienna where the other suspect was arrested.
Vienna police say that although concrete danger has been minimized, enhanced security measures will be enforced during Swift’s scheduled Eras Tour concerts at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Saturday due to remaining “abstract danger,” per AP. Ruf said concertgoers should expect extended entry wait times due to those measures.
