Suspect’s lawyer in foiled Taylor Swift concert attack says claims exaggerated

(FILES) US singer Taylor Swift performs on stage at the Paris La Defense Arena as part of her The Eras Tour, in Nanterre, north-western France, on May 9, 2024. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP) / — IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE

VIENNA — A lawyer for the main suspect in an alleged plot to attack now-canceled Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna said Tuesday that authorities’ presentation of the case is exaggerated, and his client wouldn’t have been able to carry out plans that the attorney described as “fantasies.”

The 19-year-old Austrian man, whose name hasn’t been released because of Austrian privacy rules, was arrested last Wednesday — one of three people who were detained. Hours later, organizers canceled the concerts that Swift was scheduled to play on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the Austrian capital’s Ernst Happel Stadium. Fans were devastated by the decision.

Austrian officials have said that the suspect wanted to carry out an attack outside the stadium, killing as many people as possible using knives or homemade explosives. They say that, during a raid of the suspect’s home, investigators found chemical substances and technical devices.

Authorities said last week that the man confessed that he had started planning the attack in July. Defense lawyer Werner Tomanek told the Austria Press Agency that he hasn’t yet had access to the case files, but cited a “fragmentary record” of his client’s initial questioning to dispute their account of a full confession.

“He had neither the means nor the possibility and the explosives to carry this out,” Tomanek said. He added that authorities’ allegations against the 19-year-old suspect were “overacting at its best,” and contended that they were “presenting this exaggeratedly” in order to get new surveillance powers.

Taylor Swift. Image: REUTERS

Tomanek said that his client appeared to have mental problems and described him as “a lone wolf without social contacts.” He said that “the alleged attack plans were pure fantasies.”

The lawyer said that, in his first questioning by investigators, his client had admitted “in principle to Islamist tendencies” and conceded that he had sought and found “contact with such people online,” APA reported. He added that the young man did make a pledge of loyalty to the Islamic State group and put it online, but said he deleted it shortly after.

Asked why his client did so, Tomanek replied: “Because he found it cool.” He said the man wanted to imitate poses struck by the assailant in a Nov. 2, 2020, attack in Vienna in which four people were killed and the gunman — who had a previous conviction for trying to join IS in Syria — also was killed.

Swift has five concerts at London’s Wembley Stadium scheduled starting on Thursday.