The trial opened in Austria on Tuesday morning for Beran A., the 21-year-old who allegedly planned to carry out an Islamist terrorist attack during a series of concerts by pop star Taylor Swift in Vienna nearly two years ago. Documents leaked on the eve of the trial showed the materials he had begun stockpiling, and said he planned, among other things, to detonate an explosive device hidden inside a Red Bull can.
Beran A., who holds Austrian and Macedonian citizenship, was arrested Aug. 7, 2024, at his family’s home in the town of Ternitz, one day before the first of three Taylor Swift concerts scheduled at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium. The concerts, part of the record-breaking Eras Tour, were expected to draw fans from around the world. They were stunned when the production company and police suddenly announced the shows had been canceled after a plot to carry out terrorist attacks was uncovered, thanks to intelligence provided by the CIA.
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Taylor Swift; Beran A. armed with knives before his arrest; he admitted to most of the charges
(Photo: JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP; Photo: APA/AFP via Gettyimages)
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Between cheese and jars: the milk-like explosive in the family refrigerator, in a photo leaked from the prosecution
About 65,000 people were expected inside the stadium for each of Swift’s three concerts, with another 30,000 expected to gather outside. Beran A. allegedly planned to drive his Volkswagen Beetle into the crowds while using a fake police siren and flashing blue light, then detonate explosive devices and attack concertgoers with knives.
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Beran A. is brought into court south of Vienna today with his face covered
(Photo: ROLAND SCHLAGER / APA / AFP)
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Austrian police secure the courtroom before the hearing begins
(Photo: AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
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Arda K., Beran A.’s accomplice; he traveled to Istanbul but did not carry out the attack
(Photo: REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger)
According to prosecutors, Beran A. pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group on July 7, 2024, a month before his arrest, and obtained online instructions for assembling the kind of fragmentation bomb used by the terrorist group. In the weeks before the planned attack, he stockpiled machetes and 21,000 euros in cash and managed to produce a small amount of TATP, the same explosive used in the 2017 Islamist attack at Manchester Arena in England against fans of singer Ariana Grande. Photos leaked from the prosecution showed the explosive, resembling a milky liquid, prepared in a bottle in his family’s refrigerator. He also tried to illegally buy firearms and hand grenades. If convicted, he faces 10 to 20 years in prison.
The trial, which opened Tuesday in Wiener Neustadt, about an hour from Vienna, also involves two of Beran A.’s accomplices in other alleged terrorist plots: a Slovak citizen named Arda K. and another man named Hassan A. According to prosecutors, in March 2024, months before the plot against Swift’s fans, the three planned attacks in the Middle East during Ramadan: Beran A. was supposed to attack in Dubai, Arda K. in Istanbul and Hassan A. in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. All three traveled to their destinations, but only Hassan A. carried out his plan. He stabbed a security guard at Mecca’s Grand Mosque and was arrested. He remains imprisoned there.
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Taylor Swift fans dance and celebrate in Vienna on Aug. 9, 2024, after the shows were canceled over the uncovered plot
(Photo: AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)
Beran A. and Arda K. entered the courtroom in Wiener Neustadt on Tuesday with their faces covered. Beran A. wore a dark blue shirt and jeans, while Arda K. appeared in a light blue shirt and beige pants. Beran A.’s lawyer said he intended to plead guilty to charges related to the planned attack at the Taylor Swift concerts but deny the other allegations against him. He later did so during the hearing. Arda K. is expected to admit he traveled to Istanbul to carry out an attack.
The Vienna plot drew comparisons at the time to the 2017 terrorist attack carried out by a suicide bomber against fans attending Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester, England. In that attack, 22 people were killed. The bomber detonated his explosive device at the end of the concert as thousands of spectators, most of them young fans, were leaving the venue.