Taylor Swift comments on ‘devastating’ Vienna terror plot for the first time
By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN
(CNN) — Taylor Swift shared a statement on social media on Wednesday in which she commented on the thwarted terror attack that led to the cancellation of three Eras Tour shows in Vienna, Austria earlier this month.
“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,” Swift wrote.
“I was heartened by the love and unity I saw in the fans who banded together. I decided that all of my energy had to go toward helping to protect the nearly half a million people I had coming to see the shows in London,” she continued. “My team and I worked hand in hand with stadium staff and British authorities every day in pursuit of that goal, and I want to thank them for everything they did for us.”
Swift just completed a run of shows at London’s Wembley Stadium and the European leg of her tour. On August 7, Austrian authorities announced they had foiled a terror attack planned for at least one of the Vienna dates. Wednesday marks Swift’s first public comment on the incident.
As for the timing of Swift’s statement, she wrote, “I am not going to speak about something publicly if I think doing so might provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my shows. In cases like this one, ‘silence’ is actually showing restraint, and waiting to express yourself at a time when it’s right to. My priority was finishing our European tour safely, and it is with great relief that I can say we did that.”
Three teenagers have been detained in connection with the investigation and are suspected of plotting a suicide attack.
Investigators found a stockpile of chemicals, explosive devices, detonators and €21,000 (about $22,944) in counterfeit cash at the home of the main suspect, a 19-year-old ISIS sympathizer who had been radicalized online, authorities said.
The young man, who was arrested last week in the eastern Austrian town of Ternitz, planned to kill “a large number of people” in a suicide attack, according to the head of the domestic intelligence agency, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner.
Swift is scheduled to resume her tour in Miami in October.
CNN’s Mia Alberti, Sandra Gonzalez and Krystal Hur contributed to this report.
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