Taylor Swift broke her silence on the Vienna terror attack on Instagram
In an Instagram post at the end of her European Eras tour, Taylor Swift broke her silence on the Vienna terrorist attack.
A CIA official said the foiled terrorist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna earlier this month was intended to kill “tens of thousands” of people.
According to the Associated Press and the New York Times, David Cohen, deputy director of the CIA, spoke openly about the alleged terrorist attack on the pop star’s fans during the annual Intelligence and National Security Summit in Maryland.
“They were planning to kill a huge number of people at this concert, tens of thousands, including many Americans, I’m sure, and were pretty well advanced in doing so,” Cohen said Wednesday. “The Austrians were able to make these arrests because the agency and our intelligence partners provided them with information about what this ISIS-affiliated group was planning to do.”
Taylor Swift cancels Vienna Eras tour Concerts after the arrest of two people for suspected terrorist attack
Three people have been arrested in connection with the suspected terrorist attack, which was planned for one of Swift’s Vienna shows from August 8 to 10, but was canceled. The suspects are an 18-year-old Iraqi national, a 19-year-old Austrian living in a town near the Hungarian border, and a 17-year-old boy hired by a company that was supposed to provide services for the Ernst Happel Stadium.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer wrote in a social media post that the security situation was very serious and a tragedy had been averted.
“We have no choice but to cancel the three planned shows for the good of everyone,” said Barracuda Music, the organizer of the Austrian shows. “All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 working days.”
Swift later broke her silence in an Instagram post on August 21, days after canceling the shows due to the suspected terrorist attack and the safety of her fans.
“The cancellation of our Vienna shows was devastating. The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of anxiety and enormous guilt because so many people had planned to come to these shows,” Swift wrote in the caption. “But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them we were mourning concerts and not live performances.”
She continued: “I was heartened by the love and unity I saw from fans united. I decided that all my energy needed to be put into helping to protect the nearly half a million people who came to my shows in London. My team and I worked hand in hand every day with stadium staff and the UK authorities to achieve this goal and I want to thank them for everything they did for us.”
Featuring: Bryan West, Taijuan Moorman, KiMi Robinson, Edward Segarra
