The CIA's Deputy Director, David S. Cohen, confirmed that the terror plot targeting Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna earlier this month aimed to kill “a huge number” of people, including many Americans. Speaking at the Intelligence and National Security Summit, Cohen revealed that the Austrian authorities were able to thwart the attack thanks to critical intelligence provided by the CIA.
“They were plotting to kill a huge number, tens of thousands of people at this concert, I am sure many Americans,” Cohen stated. The plot was connected to ISIS, and the arrests made by Austrian authorities were a direct result of the information shared by the CIA and its intelligence partners.
Swift had to cancel three shows at Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadium after learning about the planned bomb attacks. Authorities arrested several suspects, including two males, aged 17 and 19, on August 7, and an 18-year-old male on August 8, all accused of planning the terror attacks. A 15-year-old was questioned but not named as a suspect.
Swift described the cancellations as "devastating" in a social media post, expressing her fear and gratitude. "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. But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives,” she wrote.
* The New York Post contributed to this article.
