FILE - Austrian police officers watch a gathering of Taylor Swift fans in the city centre in Vienna on Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)
FILE - A police officer is decorated with Taylor Swift bracelets while guarding the city center in Vienna on Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)
FILE - A person wears a purple head as fans of Taylor Swift also known as Swifties gather in the city centre in Vienna, Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)
The defendants hide their faces behind file folders on their way to the courtroom in the District Court in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, where two terror suspects will stand trial Tuesday, one for plotting to carry out an attack on one of superstar singer Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna in August 2024 and pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
The defendants hide their faces behind file folders on their way to the courtroom in the District Court in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, where two terror suspects will stand trial Tuesday, one for plotting to carry out an attack on one of superstar singer Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna in August 2024 and pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
A defendant hiding his face behind file folders on the way to the courtroom in the District Court in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, where two terror suspects will stand trial Tuesday, one for plotting to carry out an attack on one of superstar singer Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna in August 2024 and pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
FILE - Austrian police officers watch a gathering of Taylor Swift fans in the city centre in Vienna on Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)
PRO
FILE - A police officer is decorated with Taylor Swift bracelets while guarding the city center in Vienna on Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)
PRO
FILE - A person wears a purple head as fans of Taylor Swift also known as Swifties gather in the city centre in Vienna, Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)
MS
FILE - Fans of Taylor Swift also known as Swifties sing and dance in Vienna, Aug.9, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)
PRO
FILE - Fans of Taylor Swift also known as Swifties trade bracelets in the city centre in Vienna, Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)
PRO
The defendants hide their faces behind file folders on their way to the courtroom in the District Court in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, where two terror suspects will stand trial Tuesday, one for plotting to carry out an attack on one of superstar singer Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna in August 2024 and pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
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The defendants hide their faces behind file folders on their way to the courtroom in the District Court in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, where two terror suspects will stand trial Tuesday, one for plotting to carry out an attack on one of superstar singer Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna in August 2024 and pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
mm
A defendant hiding his face behind file folders on the way to the courtroom in the District Court in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, where two terror suspects will stand trial Tuesday, one for plotting to carry out an attack on one of superstar singer Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna in August 2024 and pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
WIENER NEUSTADT, Austria (AP) — A man accused of pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group 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 , who had flown to Austria from across the globe to attend a performance of her record-setting Eras Tour were devastated, but into a citywide trading post for .
Austrian outlets Kurier and Kronen Zeitung reported that he pled guilty to charges related to the concert plot. It was not immediately clear what other charges he pleaded guilty to.
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, and his defense attorney previously said he planned to plead guilty to most of the charges. He could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
He is facing trial alongside Arda K., whose full name also has not been made public. They, along with a third man, planned to carry out simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates during Ramadan in 2024 in the name of the Islamic State group. Beran A. and Arda K. never carried out their attacks.
Only Beran A. was charged in connection with the Taylor Swift plot.
He allegedly gathered outside Ernst Happel Stadium — up to 30,000 each night, with another 65,000 inside the venue — with knives or homemade explosives. The suspect hoped to “kill as many people as possible,†authorities said in 2024. The U.S. provided intelligence that fed into the decision to cancel the concerts.
Beran A. also allegedly networked with other members of ahead of the planned attack. Prosecutors say they discussed purchasing weapons and making bombs, and that the defendant also sought to illegally buy weapons in the days ahead of the performance. In addition, he swore allegiance to the militant group.
Authorities searched his apartment on Aug. 7, 2024 and found bomb-making materials. The concerts were scheduled to begin the next day.
“Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating,†posted to Instagram two weeks later. “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.â€
The trial is being held in Wiener Neustadt, about an hour south of Vienna. The proceedings are set to continue May 12.
Three attacks planned in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and UAE
Prosecutors have also filed terrorism-related charges against Arda K. in the trial in connection with the plan for simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
The third man in that plot, Hasan E., allegedly stabbed a security guard with a knife at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on March 11, 2024. He was arrested and remains in pretrial detention in Saudi Arabia, Austrian prosecutors said.
Beran A. and Arda K. did not carry out their plans in Turkey and the UAE. Beran A. returned to Vienna and then allegedly began plotting to attack a Swift concert there.
The Vienna plot drew comparisons to a 2017 attack by a suicide bomber 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.
