Taylor Swift has spoken out about the fear she felt when Austrian police canceled her shows because of an ISIS terror threat. The American singer has just completed the European leg of her new world tour but was unable to perform in the Austrian capital, Vienna, after police arrested a group of teenage ISIS devotees for plotting to attack her fans.
Vienna State Police Director Franz Ruf and Police Chief Gerhard Pürstl held a press conference in early August saying that one 19-year-old suspect was active online and had pledged his allegiance to the global Islamist terror group just weeks before his arrest. They confirmed that the unnamed would-be terrorist had been under law enforcement surveillance and was known to the police.
A bomb squad discovered chemical substances that police believe were capable of creating a bomb, but confirmed that testing and investigations were ongoing.
After the show cancellations, Ms. Swift left Austria and traveled to the UK, where she told journalists she felt guilty and frightened by events in Vienna. Walking out on stage in London, the singer said she experienced a variety of emotions among significantly increased security. Swift said that despite her sorrow about the concerts being scrapped, she was “so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.”
The London shows took place against a tragic background – just weeks after a knifeman crashed into a Taylor Swift children’s dance class in Southport, England. Three young girls died in the incident, and a dozen more were injured in a horrific attack that sparked demonstrations and riots across the UK.
Swift invited survivors and bereaved family members to her final London show and met them backstage to express her shock and sympathy. Immediately after the incident made international headlines, the singer took to Instagram and wrote, “These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.”
Axel Rudakubana, the 17-year-old son of Rwandan immigrants, was charged with the Southport killings. No motive has yet been established.
