Jury Retires at Austrian Trial Over Foiled Attack on Taylor Swift Concert
WIENER NEUSTADT, Austria, May 28 (Reuters) – The jury at the trial of a 21-year-old over a foiled Islamist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024 retired for deliberations on Thursday, with the defendant having already pleaded guilty to the main charges including terrorism offences. Beran A, whose last name has not been made public in accordance with Austrian privacy rules, was arrested on August 7, 2024, the day before the first of three planned concerts by the U.S. pop star in the Austrian capital. All three dates were then cancelled, to the dismay of fans and of Swift, who wrote afterwards that it was “devastating.” While crowds of disappointed fans sang together in Vienna then to console themselves, neither Swift nor any “Swifties” appeared at the courthouse in Wiener Neustadt, a town south of the capital. Beran A, who is Austrian, has pleaded guilty to charges related to the planned attack, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He covered his face with a ring binder as he …





