Politico Europe · Feb 16, 2026 · Collected from RSS
Prosecutors say the defendant shared propaganda from the Islamic State militant organization and encouraged another teenager to carry out a knife attack.
According to prosecutors, the suspect obtained bomb-making plans online and received instructions from other members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on handling explosives. He is also accused of buying materials to produce an explosive called triacetone triperoxide (TATP), and of trying to buy firearms online. Prosecutors further allege that he encouraged another 19-year-old Austrian national to carry out a knife attack on a security guard at a mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in March 2024 that left five injured. The two men, and other separately prosecuted individuals, planned two other terrorist attacks in Dubai and Istanbul, prosecutors said. The alleged Swift concert attacker is also accused of sharing ISIS propaganda on social media, such as videos encouraging the killing of ‘infidels’. If convicted, the defendant faces up to 20 years in prison. Swift had been scheduled to perform three shows in Vienna as part of her Eras Tour, but the concerts were canceled after police announced they had foiled a terror plot the evening before the first one. All shows in the Austrian capital had sold out, with around 60,000 people expected to attend each performance and tens of thousands of fans traveling to Vienna.