A Syrian teenager who was arrested for being involved in the terror plot attack targeting singer Taylor Swift during her concert in Austria last year has been convicted and given an 18-month suspended sentence.
The defendant, identified as a 16-year-old and known only as Mohammad A, was found guilty by a Berlin court on Tuesday of "preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state" and "supporting a terrorist act of violence abroad."
Syrian Teenager Convicted for Taylor Swift Terror Plot
The court, under juvenile criminal law, gave the teenager an 18-month suspended sentence. The judges handling the case found Mohammad A, who was 14 years old at the time of the planned terror attack, supported the ideology of the so-called Islamic State (IS) group. He was found to have been in contact with a young man in Austria who prepared the attack on Swift's concert in Vienna.
The defendant was said to have sent his acquaintance a video that showed bomb-building instructions and organized contact with an IS member. At his trial, the teenager made a "comprehensive confession," according to Euronews.
Read more: Rebecca Grossman Sentenced to 15 Years for Hit-And-Run Deaths of Two Siblings in Crosswalk
After authorities caught wind of the planned attacks, three Swift concerts in Vienna were cancelled on Aug. 7, 2024. Austrian officials were able to arrest three suspects, all of whom were teenagers.
They then said that the main suspect in the case, a 19-year-old Austrian man, was inspired by the IS terrorist group. He allegedly planned to attack outside the stadium using knives or homemade explosives. Investigators later found chemical substances and technical devices when they raided his home.
Arresting the Suspects
A second suspect in the case, who was 17 years old when he was arrested, has already been released without charge. In an Instagram post after cancelling her concerts in Vienna, Swift said the entire situation was "devastating," adding that she was grateful to authorities for prioritizing the safety of the people involved, Pitchfork reported.
Authorities were able to thwart the planned attack, preventing it from being carried out, resulting in no injuries being reported. There were nearly 200,000 people who were expected to attend Swift's concert at Vienna's Ernst-Happel-Stadion, which could have been affected by the incident.
The pop icon said that waiting before opening up about the entire incident showed restraint on her part. She added that at the time of the incident, their priority was to finish their European tour safely, which was something that they were able to do successfully, as per MXDWN.
