Taylor Swift concert terrorist plotters wanted to kill ‘tens of thousands,’ CIA official says

Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), David Cohen has disclosed that the suspects in the foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concerts in Vienna earlier this month wanted to kill “tens of thousands” of the artist’s fans.

David Cohen revealed on Wednesday at a security conference in Maryland.

“They were plotting to kill a huge number — tens of thousands of people at this concert, including, I am sure, many Americans — and were quite advanced in this,” Cohen said, as reported by The Associated Press.

“The Austrians were able to make those arrests because the agency and our partners in the intelligence community provided them information about what this ISIS-connected group was planning to do,” he added.

Taylor Swift’s Vienna concerts, which was scheduled to have begun on August 8, was canceled by the events’ organizers, Barracuda Music, when they were informed of the ‘terrorist’ plot .

The move left tens of thousands of the singer’s fans devastated, many of whom had traveled to Vienna from elsewhere in the country or abroad specifically to see the concert.

The main suspect in the alleged plot, along with a 17-year-old, were taken into custody on Aug. 6, the day before the cancelations were announced.

Austrian officials said the primary suspect, who they have not named due to Austrian privacy laws, was inspired by ISIS. They said he had planned to attack outside the stadium with knives or explosives.

A third suspect, who was 18 years old, was arrested on August 8.

At the security conference Wednesday, CIA Deputy Director Cohen praised the CIA’s work, saying counterterrorism “successes” often go unheralded, according to the AP.

“I can tell you within my agency, and I’m sure in others, there were people who thought that was a really good day for Langley,” he said, referring to the location of the CIA headquarters in Virginia. “And not just the Swifties in my workforce.”

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