Latest news with #MohammadA
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Teen charged in foiled terror attack at Taylor Swift's canceled Vienna shows
A Syrian teenager has been charged in Germany in connection to the foiled terror attack at Taylor Swift's Vienna shows during the Eras Tour. German prosecutors identified Mohammad A. as a suspect in a press release shared Friday, alleging that the teenager assisted another suspect with instructions on how to build bombs. "Mohammad A. adhered to the ideology of the terrorist organization 'Islamic State' (IS) at least since April 2024," the prosecutor general alleged in a statement translated from German. "Between mid-July and August 2024, he was in contact with a young adult from Austria who was planning a bomb attack on a concert by singer Taylor Swift in Vienna." The teenager is also accused of "establishing contact with an IS member abroad via the internet" and providing the main suspect with "a template for the oath of allegiance to IS, which the young adult used to join the organization." A representative for Swift didn't immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly's request for comment. The pop star had been scheduled to perform three shows at the Austrian capital between Aug. 8 and Aug. 10 of last year. Concert promoter Barracuda Music canceled the shows the day before the shows were slated to kick off, citing "confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack" at the venue, Ernst Happel Stadium, and announcing that all tickets would be refunded. Authorities at the time said they arrested two unidentified suspects in Vienna, including a 19-year-old. The C.I.A. also said the suspects "were plotting to kill a huge number, tens of thousands of people at this concert," per The New York Times. A 17-year-old who was previously arrested as a possible accomplice has since been released without charges. Swift addressed the terror plot after she wrapped the European leg of the tour in late August, calling the cancellations "devastating." "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," she said on Instagram at the time. "But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives." Swift also said she was "heartened by the love and unity I saw in the fans who banded together," referencing the fans in Vienna who gathered in the streets to exchange friendship bracelets and sing along to her songs. The singer-songwriter also explained that she did not immediately address the situation out of concern for the safety of fans. "I am not going to speak about something publicly if I think doing so might provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my shows," Swift said. "In cases like this one, 'silence' is actually showing restraint, and waiting to express yourself at a time when it's right to. My priority was finishing our European tour safely, and it is with great relief that I can say we did that." Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
The Advertiser
a day ago
- The Advertiser
Syrian juvenile charged over Swift concert plot
Germany has charged a Syrian juvenile with supporting a foreign terrorist organisation for helping to plan a foiled attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last year, the prosecutor general has said in a statement. Identified as Mohammad A, the suspect helped the would-be attacker by translating Arabic bomb-building instructions and putting him in contact with a member of the Islamic State militia online, according to the charges against him. Police made multiple arrests over a suspected plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in the Austrian capital's Ernst Happel Stadium, prompting the cancellation of all three of her shows there in August last year. "Mohammad A has adhered to the ideology of the terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS) since April 2024 at the latest," read the statement, issued on Friday. "Between mid-July and August 2024, he was in contact with a young Austrian who was planning a bomb attack on a concert by singer Taylor Swift in Vienna." Austria's coalition government earlier this month agreed on a plan to enable police to monitor suspects' secure messaging in order to thwart militant attacks, ending what security officials have said is a rare and dangerous blind spot for a European Union country. Germany has charged a Syrian juvenile with supporting a foreign terrorist organisation for helping to plan a foiled attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last year, the prosecutor general has said in a statement. Identified as Mohammad A, the suspect helped the would-be attacker by translating Arabic bomb-building instructions and putting him in contact with a member of the Islamic State militia online, according to the charges against him. Police made multiple arrests over a suspected plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in the Austrian capital's Ernst Happel Stadium, prompting the cancellation of all three of her shows there in August last year. "Mohammad A has adhered to the ideology of the terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS) since April 2024 at the latest," read the statement, issued on Friday. "Between mid-July and August 2024, he was in contact with a young Austrian who was planning a bomb attack on a concert by singer Taylor Swift in Vienna." Austria's coalition government earlier this month agreed on a plan to enable police to monitor suspects' secure messaging in order to thwart militant attacks, ending what security officials have said is a rare and dangerous blind spot for a European Union country. Germany has charged a Syrian juvenile with supporting a foreign terrorist organisation for helping to plan a foiled attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last year, the prosecutor general has said in a statement. Identified as Mohammad A, the suspect helped the would-be attacker by translating Arabic bomb-building instructions and putting him in contact with a member of the Islamic State militia online, according to the charges against him. Police made multiple arrests over a suspected plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in the Austrian capital's Ernst Happel Stadium, prompting the cancellation of all three of her shows there in August last year. "Mohammad A has adhered to the ideology of the terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS) since April 2024 at the latest," read the statement, issued on Friday. "Between mid-July and August 2024, he was in contact with a young Austrian who was planning a bomb attack on a concert by singer Taylor Swift in Vienna." Austria's coalition government earlier this month agreed on a plan to enable police to monitor suspects' secure messaging in order to thwart militant attacks, ending what security officials have said is a rare and dangerous blind spot for a European Union country. Germany has charged a Syrian juvenile with supporting a foreign terrorist organisation for helping to plan a foiled attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last year, the prosecutor general has said in a statement. Identified as Mohammad A, the suspect helped the would-be attacker by translating Arabic bomb-building instructions and putting him in contact with a member of the Islamic State militia online, according to the charges against him. Police made multiple arrests over a suspected plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in the Austrian capital's Ernst Happel Stadium, prompting the cancellation of all three of her shows there in August last year. "Mohammad A has adhered to the ideology of the terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS) since April 2024 at the latest," read the statement, issued on Friday. "Between mid-July and August 2024, he was in contact with a young Austrian who was planning a bomb attack on a concert by singer Taylor Swift in Vienna." Austria's coalition government earlier this month agreed on a plan to enable police to monitor suspects' secure messaging in order to thwart militant attacks, ending what security officials have said is a rare and dangerous blind spot for a European Union country.
The National
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The National
Syrian teenager charged over plot against Taylor Swift concerts
German prosecutors said on Friday they had filed charges against a Syrian youth and alleged ISIS supporter linked to a 2024 attack plot on a Vienna concert by US pop megastar Taylor Swift. The suspect, named only as Mohammad A., was accused of supporting a foreign terrorist organisation and preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state, federal prosecutors said. He had, as a juvenile, started following ISIS ideology from April last year and had from July been in contact with a young adult from Austria who was planning a bomb attack at one of Swift's concerts, they said. "The accused assisted the young adult in his preparations by, among other things, translating bomb-making instructions from Arabic and establishing contact with an ISIS member abroad via the internet," federal prosecutors said in a statement. "The accused also provided the young adult with a template for the oath of allegiance to ISIS, which the young adult used to join the organisation." Police first took Mohammad A. into custody last September in the eastern German city of Frankfurt an der Oder, where the then 15-year-old went to school, but later released him. The federal prosecutors office in the western city of Karlsruhe said on Friday the charges were laid on June 17 in a Berlin higher regional court, which will now decide on their admissibility. Three shows in Vienna that were part of Swift's record-breaking Eras tour were cancelled last summer after authorities warned of a terror plot by ISIS sympathisers. Police detained three suspects, including a 19-year-old Austrian with North Macedonian roots, over the alleged attack threat, with the US saying it had shared intelligence to assist in the investigation. Swift later wrote on Instagram that "the reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many had planned on coming to those shows".
New York Times
a day ago
- New York Times
Teenager Is Charged in 2024 Plot to Attack Taylor Swift Concert in Vienna
Prosecutors have charged a Syrian teenager living in Germany with helping to plot an attack on a Taylor Swift concert last summer, a threat that forced the music star to cancel three dates in Vienna that had been expected to draw some 150,000 fans. Investigators in Germany accused the teenager, whom they identified only as Mohammad A. in keeping with privacy rules, of helping to interpret Arabic bomb-building instructions and of translating an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group for the main suspect in the plot. The charges against the Syrian teenager, which include supporting a foreign terrorism organization and helping to prepare 'a serious act of violence endangering the state,' were filed last week but publicized only on Friday. His exact age has not been released. The initial tip that there was a credible threat against Ms. Swift's concerts came from American intelligence, Austrian officials have said, and the authorities subsequently arrested a 19-year-old Austrian citizen with Macedonian roots as the main suspect. The police say that they found machetes, knives, and timers and chemicals to make explosives when they searched his parents' home in the town of Ternitz, about 40 miles south of Vienna. Officers also discovered counterfeit money and Islamic State propaganda in the house. The main suspect is being held in jail while the investigation continues, the Vienna prosecutor's office said on Friday. Another Austrian suspect, a 17-year-old whom the police arrested as a possible accomplice in August, has since been released without charge. The authorities said that the Syrian teenager arrested in Germany had become radicalized online and had connected the main suspect with an Islamic State contact over social media. Because he is a minor, the Syrian teenager has not been taken into custody. The cancellation of the concerts by Ms. Swift was a blow to the Austrian capital — her shows are often credited with providing multimillion-dollar boosts to the economies of host cities.
West Australian
a day ago
- Politics
- West Australian
Syrian juvenile charged over Swift concert plot
Germany has charged a Syrian juvenile with supporting a foreign terrorist organisation for helping to plan a foiled attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last year, the prosecutor general has said in a statement. Identified as Mohammad A, the suspect helped the would-be attacker by translating Arabic bomb-building instructions and putting him in contact with a member of the Islamic State militia online, according to the charges against him. Police made multiple arrests over a suspected plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in the Austrian capital's Ernst Happel Stadium, prompting the cancellation of all three of her shows there in August last year. "Mohammad A has adhered to the ideology of the terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS) since April 2024 at the latest," read the statement, issued on Friday. "Between mid-July and August 2024, he was in contact with a young Austrian who was planning a bomb attack on a concert by singer Taylor Swift in Vienna." Austria's coalition government earlier this month agreed on a plan to enable police to monitor suspects' secure messaging in order to thwart militant attacks, ending what security officials have said is a rare and dangerous blind spot for a European Union country.
