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Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concerts in Vienna have been canceled after Austrian law enforcement officers arrested two people suspected of planning a major attack on one of the performances.
Federal and local officers worked to arrest the two men on Wednesday. Police said one of the men, 19, had pledged allegiance to ISIS last month. The teen was arrested in Ternitz, an hour south of the capital, on Wednesday morning while the other man was taken into custody in Vienna hours later.
Both suspects had become radicalized on the internet and had specific plans to carry out an attack, officials said. The 19-year-old Austrian citizen was arrested with chemicals found by a bomb squad, and investigators are now determining if they could have been used to make an explosive.
The performances, which were originally scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, are now canceled. This move comes after officials initially said the concerts were set to move forward with heightened security.
“We have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety,” management company Barracuda Music said in a statement. “All tickets will be automatically refunded.”
The A-lister has not commented on the potential attack.
The Independent has contacted Swift’s representative for comment.
The arrests come just days after a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed children’s dance class in Southport, England. The attacker killed three children: six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar. Five other kids and two adults were also seriously injured in the July 29 attack.
Swift paid tribute to the children the next day.
“The horror of yesterday’s attack is washing over me continuously and I’m just completely in shock,” she said in a statement. “The loss of life and innocence and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families and first responders.”
“These were just little kids at a dance class,” she continued. “I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.”
Source: independent.co.uk
