Taylor Swift fans jittery about London concert following Vienna terror threat
By Steve Bird
Taylor Swift fans have been selling tickets for her Wembley concerts after Austrian police foiled a terror attack plot targeting her Vienna show.
Fans posted the sale of the tickets on social media with some claiming the emergence of the terror plot meant they were too frightened to attend. Others denied the sale was linked to the arrests in Austria.
Taylor Swift performs at Wembley Stadium on Eras Tour.Credit: sitecore\pstock
All three of the American singer’s performances at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium were cancelled on Wednesday after two suspected extremists, aged 19 and 17, were arrested by Austrian police.
Although both London Mayor Sadiq Khan and the Metropolitan Police insisted “appropriate security” was in place for her London concerts next week, some fans admitted the events in Vienna had unsettled them.
One fan called Pamela wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that she was “having to cancel my trip to London to see Taylor Swift because … my anxiety won’t even let me think of stepping foot in London and, even worse, the stadium”.
She added that she was “at a loss for words on how sick this world is and how something so pure can be taken … because of hate”.
Many fans claimed their “circumstances had changed” and denied the sale of their tickets was linked to the foiled terror plot.
Neither Stubhub nor Ticketmaster, the ticket sales companies, responded to a request for a comment.
On Friday, a third suspect aged 18 was detained by Austrian authorities. It is understood he had pledged allegiance to Islamic State and been in contact with the suspected cell’s ringleader.
However, Gerhard Karner, Austria’s interior minister, stressed that the 18 year-old was not directly involved in the planned attack.
Investigators seized chemicals and explosives at the home of the 19-year-old ringleader, who told police he had intended to “kill himself and a large crowd at the concert” on either Thursday or Friday.
Austrian authorities said they believe the 19-year-old, who is said to have links to North Macedonia, was set to target concertgoers with knives and a homemade bomb.
A second suspect, a 17-year-old Austrian citizen with a Turkish and Croatian background, had started a job at the concert venue just days before the Taylor Swift shows were cancelled, Viennese officials said.
Khan said London would “carry on” hosting the Swift concerts later this month, adding that the city had a “huge amount of experience in policing these events” with lessons learned after the 2017 Manchester Arena attack when a terrorist killed 22 people and injured more than 1000 at an Ariana Grande concert.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police also tried to allay any fears, insisting that its officers worked closely with venue security teams and other agencies “to ensure there are appropriate security and policing plans in place”.
Swift’s tour returns to Wembley from August 15 for five dates.
Telegraph, London
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