A tragic situation was avoided earlier this month, when Taylor Swift was forced to schedule a run of The Eras Tour concerts in Vienna, Austria due to a planned terror attack, which was thankfully prevented before it had a chance to start.
Austrian officials later said a suspect confessed his intent to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue.” Now, a CIA official has said something similar.
As People notes, CIA Deputy Director David S. Cohen spoke to reporters yesterday (August 29) and talked about the Swift situation. He said, “They were plotting to kill a huge number, tens of thousands of people at this concert, I am sure many Americans. 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.”
Around 200,000 people were reportedly expected to attend the three scheduled Vienna concerts.
Swift previously shared a statement about the canceled shows, saying, “Walking onstage in London was a rollercoaster of emotions. Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating. 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.”