CIA Deputy Director Says Agency Helped Prevent Terror Attack At Taylor Swift Concert

The CIA has revealed they, along with other U.S. intelligence agencies, provided intelligence to Austrian law enforcement officials to help thwart an ISIS-inspired terror attack planned at a Taylor Swift concert earlier in the month.

CIA Deputy Director David Cohen reported the CIA gave intel to Austrian authorities and shared, “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 added, “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.”

Swift ended up canceling her Vienna show, and three other tour stops in Europe after the terror attack was exposed.

Taylor Swift concert terror plot intended to kill ‘tens of thousands of people’: CIA official https://t.co/YNPJctc5JK pic.twitter.com/N9Xrk4Lzko

— New York Post (@nypost) August 29, 2024

ISIS-linked terrorists aimed to kill “tens of thousands” of Taylor Swift fans at Vienna concert before CIA intel disrupted the planning and led to arrests. Main suspect is 19-year-old Austrian man. Radical Islamism is sweeping the West especially our campuses. We better wake up. pic.twitter.com/7sAhIl9xvU

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) August 29, 2024

Per AP:

The suspects in the foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna earlier this month sought to kill “tens of thousands” of fans before the CIA discovered intelligence that disrupted the planning and led to arrests, the agency’s deputy director said.

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The CIA notified Austrian authorities of the scheme, which allegedly included links to the Islamic State group. The intelligence and subsequent arrests ultimately led to the cancellation of three sold-out Eras Tour shows, devastating fans who had traveled across the globe to see Swift in concert.

CIA Deputy Director David Cohen addressed the failed plot during the annual Intelligence and National Security Summit, held this week 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 Wednesday. “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.”

CIA says Swift concert plotters planned to kill 'tens of thousands' https://t.co/bswo6hwyLa

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 29, 2024

Check out what CNN reported:

The CIA and other US intelligence agencies provided intelligence to Austrian law enforcement that allowed them to disrupt an ISIS-inspired plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert earlier this month, CIA deputy director David Cohen confirmed on Wednesday.

CNN and others had previously reported the role of US intelligence in disrupting the plot, which Cohen said was “quite advanced” and threatened to kill “tens of thousands of people at this concert, including 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,” Cohen said.

“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 CIA headquarters in Virginia. “And not just the Swifties in my workforce.”

Swift just completed a run of shows at London’s Wembley Stadium and the European leg of her tour. On August 7, Austrian authorities announced they had foiled a terror attack planned for at least one of the Vienna dates.

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