The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency tipped Austrian authorities to information that helped them arrest suspects who planned a terrorist attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna earlier this month.
“Within my agency and others there were people who thought that was a really good day for Langley and not just the Swifties in my workforce,” David Cohen, the CIA’s deputy director, said at the Insa intelligence conference on Wednesday.
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Cohen didn’t offer specific details about what intelligence the CIA shared concerning the plot against Swift’s Vienna concerts, but it marked the first time a U.S. official confirmed the country’s involvement in breaking up the terrorist plot.
Earlier this month, Austrian interior minister Gerhard Karner said foreign intelligence agencies were helping with the investigation because Austrian law prohibits the surveillance of text messages. “The situation is serious, but we can also say a tragedy has been prevented,” he said.
“They were plotting to kill a huge number, tens of thousands of people at this concert, including I am sure many Americans, and were quite advanced in this,” Cohen added. “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.”
A 19-year-old, identified as an Austrian of North Macedonian background, is the prime suspect and reportedly made a full confession. An 18-year-old and a 17-year-old have also been arrested, while a 15-year-old was interrogated by police.
Authorities said the main suspect, inspired by the Islamic State, planned to target fans outside the stadium with knives or explosives to “kill as many people as possible.”
Swift had scheduled three concerts at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium for August 8, 9 and 10 as part of her sold-out Eras Tour. All 170,000 tickets for the three shows sold in a matter of hours, making it the city’s largest-ever ticket sale, according to public broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk.
In addition to the tens of thousands of spectators inside the stadium, local officials expected as many as 35,000 non-ticket holders to gather outside the venue each night.
All three shows were canceled in the wake of the arrests.
“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,” wrote Swift, in an Instagram post. “But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.”
While the CIA’s role was revealed, at least one other agency who helped thwart the attack remains unknown. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said earlier this month that the Austrian Armed Forces’ Intelligence Office received tips from two friendly foreign intelligence agencies, which they passed on to the Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service.
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