A 16-year-old boy has been convicted in Germany for supporting a foiled terror assault on Taylor Swift‘s exhibits in Austria final yr.
{The teenager}, referred to solely as Mohammed A beneath Germany’s privateness legal guidelines, was convicted of getting ready a severe act of violence and supporting a terrorist act of violence overseas.
After being charged in June, on Tuesday (August 26), he was given a suspended 18-month sentence. The trial happened behind closed doorways due to his age, throughout which he’s stated to have given a “complete confession”.
The defendant, who was aged 14 on the time, was a Syrian nationwide who had supported the ideology of the Islamic State group.
The courtroom heard that between mid July and August 2024, he was in touch with the person in Austria by way of social media who had deliberate to assault one among Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ exhibits in Vienna final summer time. Mohammed A had despatched the person a video containing directions for constructing a bomb and likewise organised contact with an IS member.
The phobia plot was uncovered by authorities and all three Vienna exhibits had been cancelled. Swift later commented on the cancellations, calling them “devastating”, whereas saying she was “grateful to the authorities as a result of because of them, we had been grieving live shows and never lives”.
The primary suspect was arrested in Ternitz, south of Vienna, earlier than the live shows following a tip-off by the CIA. A second particular person was additionally arrested within the Austrian capital across the similar time, adopted by a 3rd suspect days later.
The 19-year-old man reportedly absolutely confessed to planning the fear assault within the days following his arrest, saying he deliberate to make use of knives and self-made explosives to kill as many individuals as attainable. A police search of his home reportedly led to discovered chemical compounds, explosives, knives and machete knives being discovered. Authorities additionally recognized Islamic State and al-Qaida materials on the residence.
