Austrian pleads guilty to plotting terror attack on Taylor Swift concert
Beran A. was arrested after a tip from U.S. intelligence services just before the first of Swift's three planned Vienna concerts in August 2024 .
Updated on: April 28, 2026 / 8:06 AM EDT / CBS/AP
Wiener Neustadt, Austria — A man accused of pledging allegiance to ISIS and plotting to attack one of superstar singer Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna nearly two years ago pleaded guilty as his trial began on Tuesday, Austria media reported.
The plot was thwarted, but Austrian authorities still canceled Swift's three performances in August 2024. The singer's fans, known as Swifties, who had flown to Austria from across the globe to attend a performance of her record-setting Eras Tour were devastated, but rallied to turn Vienna into a citywide trading post for friendship bracelets and singalongs.
The defendant, a 21-year-old Austrian citizen known only as Beran A., in line with Austrian privacy rules, faced charges including terrorist offenses and membership in a terrorist organization. He could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, and has been in custody since August 2024.
The Vienna plot drew comparisons to a 2017 attack by a suicide bomber at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people. The bomb detonated at the end of Grande's concert as thousands of young fans were leaving, becoming the deadliest extremist attack in the United Kingdom in recent years.
Anna Mair, his defense attorney, said her client pleaded guilty to the charges related to the concert plot.