Teen Convicted for Role in Foiled Taylor Swift Concert Attack

A German court found a 16-year-old Syrian guilty of supporting a foiled attack plot on Taylor Swift concerts in Austria. He received a suspended sentence for preparing and aiding a terrorist act. The plot led to the cancellation of concerts in Vienna and multiple arrests.

A German court on Tuesday found a 16-year-old boy guilty of backing a thwarted plan to attack Taylor Swift concerts in Austria last year.

Identified only as Mohammad A. due to German privacy laws, the Syrian national was convicted for plotting serious violence and aiding a terrorist act abroad, receiving an 18-month suspended sentence from the Berlin court.

Judges confirmed the then-14-year-old embraced Islamic State ideology, communicating via social media with an Austrian youth intending to target a Vienna Swift concert. Evidence showed he sent bomb-making video instructions and facilitated contact with an IS member.