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Taylor Swift has broken her silence on the foiled plot to attack her concerts in Vienna earlier this month.
The singer offered an explanation as to why she chose to wait to speak out, explaining she did not want to “provoke those who would want to harm the fans”.
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Three sold-out concerts were cancelled because of the plot, devastating Swifties from across the globe, many of whom had dropped thousands of euros on travel and lodging in Austria’s expensive capital city to attend the Eras Tour shows at the Ernst Happel Stadium.
The post, to her Instagram on Thursday morning, was to wrap up the entire European Leg of her The Eras tour.
“Walking onstage in London was a rollercoaster of emotions. Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating,” she wrote.
“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.
“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 went on.
“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 went on to explain why she chose to wait to speak out on the foiled plot and cancelled shows.
“Let me be very clear: 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,” Swift said.
“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.”
“And then London felt like a beautiful dream sequence. All five crowds at Wembley Stadium were bursting with passion, joy, and exuberance.
“The energy in that stadium was like the most giant bear hug from 92,000 people each night, and it brought me back to a place of carefree calm up there,” her post ended.
Both suspects in a foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna appeared to be inspired by the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda, Austrian authorities say, and investigators found bomb-making materials at one of their homes.
One of the two confessed to planning to “kill as many people as possible outside the venue”, officials said on August 8.
Officials told reporters the 19-year-old Austrian suspect began working on his attack plans in July, and just a few weeks ago uploaded to the internet an oath of allegiance to the current leader of the Islamic State group militia.
He planned to use knives or homemade explosives to carry out the attack outside the stadium.
He was “clearly radicalised in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels”, said Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence.
During a raid of his home south of Vienna, investigators found chemicals and technical devices that indicated “concrete preparatory acts”, said Franz Ruf, director-general for public security at the interior ministry.
Authorities also found Islamic State group and al-Qaeda material at the home of the second suspect, a 17-year-old Austrian.
He was employed by a company providing services at the concert venue and was arrested near the stadium.
The suspects’ names were not released in line with Austrian privacy rules.
No other suspects were being sought, the interior minister said.
However, police interrogated a 15-year-old who had been in contact with both suspects.
“The situation was serious, the situation is serious. But we can also say: a tragedy was prevented,” he said.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer posted on X that “the cancellation of the Taylor Swift concerts by the organisers is a bitter disappointment for all fans in Austria”.
“The situation surrounding the apparently planned terror attack in Vienna was very serious,” he wrote.
But thanks to intensive co-operation between police and Austrian and foreign intelligence, “the threat could be recognised early on, tackled and a tragedy prevented”.
An estimated 170,000 fans were expected for the concerts in Austria.
– With AP