Lawyer Downplays Terror Plot at Taylor Swift Concert

The lawyer of the main suspect in an attempted attack at a Taylor Swift concert claimed the 19-year-old was merely 'playing with ideas.' Austrian authorities foiled the ISIS-inspired plot and discovered chemicals and weapons in the suspect's home. Chancellor Karl Nehammer calls for stronger intelligence powers.

The lawyer for the primary suspect in a thwarted attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna sought to downplay the gravity of the plan, asserting that her client was merely 'playing with ideas.' Swift's three scheduled concerts were canceled after authorities uncovered a plot allegedly orchestrated by a 19-year-old intending to execute an ISIS-inspired suicide bombing at a soccer stadium where tens of thousands of fans planned to attend.

Austrian investigators reported that the youth recently pledged allegiance to ISIS and fully confessed following a police raid on his home, which yielded chemicals, machetes, and other bombing materials. Lawyer Ina-Christin Stiglitz told Reuters that her client had only been engaged with ISIS for the past month.

'It interested him,' she said, suggesting her client had no serious intention of committing the attack. 'He says the bomb wasn't of good enough quality, it wouldn't have worked.'

She added that he had researched bomb-building techniques online. Among the three other teenagers detained in the investigation was a 17-year-old youth, described as the main suspect's 'best friend and neighbor.' Neighbors in their small town of Ternitz were shocked by the arrest, noting only a recent growth of a long beard as a sign of potential radicalization.

In response to the plot, Chancellor Karl Nehammer emphasized the need for Austria's intelligence agencies to gain greater authority for monitoring communications on messaging apps to prevent extremist activities.

(With inputs from agencies.)