Trial of Austrian man accused of plotting to attack a Taylor Swift concert begins

WIENER NEUSTADT, Austria (AP) — The trial against 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 has begun in Austria.

The plot was thwarted, but Austrian authorities still canceled Swift's three performances in August 2024. The singer's fans, known as Swifties, who had flown to Austria from across the globe to attend a performance of her record-setting Eras Tour were devastated, but rallied to turn Vienna into a citywide trading post for friendship bracelets and singalongs.

The defendant, a 21-year-old Austrian citizen known only as Beran A. in line with Austrian privacy rules, faces charges including terrorist offenses and membership in a terrorist organization. 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.

Beran A.'s defense attorney, Anna Mair, on Monday told The Associated Press that her client plans to plead guilty to most of the charges but she did not specify which ones. Only Beran A. is charged in connection with the Taylor Swift plot.

He allegedly planned to target onlookers 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 the Islamic State group 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,” Swift wrote in a statement 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.”

The trial is being held in Wiener Neustadt, about an hour south of Vienna. The proceedings are set to continue May 12.

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 at an Ariana Grande concert 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.

Dazio reported from Berlin.

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)

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)

FILE - Fans of Taylor Swift also known as Swifties sing and dance in Vienna, Aug.9, 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)

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 - 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)

PARIS (AP) — French organizers of the 2030 Winter Olympics are looking at alternative locations for ice hockey outside of Nice, including in Paris and Lyon, because of a political deadlock involving the Riviera city's new mayor.

Like the Milan Cortina Olympics, the French Alps project has split snow sports in storied mountain resorts and skating in a snow-free city, the Mediterranean resort of Nice.

Nice was to turn the city's soccer stadium, Allianz Arena, into a temporary hockey rink.

But Nice far-right new mayor Eric Ciotti opposes the plan, refusing that the resident football club lose access to its stadium for months because of the Olympics. Ciotti, a former conservative allied with the National Rally of Marine Le Pen, was elected last month.

The 2030 Games organizers said on Tuesday they have worked with officials from Nice and its wider region as well as the French government to find solutions for placing ice hockey within the Olympic hub in Nice. A temporary ice rink, intended as a replacement for the originally planned Allianz Riviera stadium, was studied at other stadiums, mainly for men's hockey matches.

“Technical, scheduling, and financial analyses highlighted the limitations of these options, particularly due to their very high cost and impact,” organizers added.

“With a focus on efficiency and budget optimization, the (organizing committee) has decided to broaden its investigations by examining the use of existing facilities in other major metropolitan areas such as Lyon or Paris, particularly those offering a minimum seating capacity of 10,000,” they added.

Results of their explorations will be presented to the organizing committee's executive board on May 11. The final venues are expected to be confirmed in June when the IOC decides the list of sports and events.

“The analyses carried out are leading us to turn toward existing facilities that are better suited and more sustainable. Several options are being studied to ensure hosting conditions that fully meet our requirements,” said Edgar Grospiron, the former Olympic champion freestyle skier who leads the organizing committee.

The Paris Entertainment Company, which operates Adidas Arena and Accor Arena in the French capital, said last week it submitted a bid to host ice hockey. Both venues were used during the 2024 Paris Summer Games.

French Alps Games organizers said a second competition ice rink for skating is still planned at Nice’s exhibition center, and other ice events scheduled in Nice remain unchanged.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

FILE - A cyclist rides past the Adidas Arena, April 18, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)