A German court convicted a 16-year-old Syrian national on Tuesday for supporting a thwarted terror plan to attack Taylor Swift concerts in Austria last year. The suspect, identified solely as Mohammad A. due to German privacy laws, was found guilty of planning a serious act of violence and supporting a terrorist act of violence abroad, as reported by The Associated Press, and received a suspended 18-month sentence, which means he’ll avoid jail time.
Mohammad A.’s alleged role
Judges found the boy, 14 at the time, believed in Islamic State group ideology and helped a young man in Austria who planned to commit the terror attack at Swift’s concerts in Vienna.
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Prosecutors said that they found Mohammad A. communicated with a then 19-year-old Austrian suspect through social media and sent him a video on how to make a bomb. They said he also facilitated communication with a member of the Islamic State and the young man in Austria. Mohammad A. was arrested in Germany after authorities claimed to have discovered the communication.
Plot foiled by CIA
The CIA helped foil the plot, and multiple people were arrested initially. Once it was discovered, three of Swift’s concerns in Vienna were canceled on Aug. 7, 2024.
The AP reports that Mohammad A. made a “comprehensive confession” during his trial. The trial was closed to the public due to German age laws, and the conviction can be appealed.
Other suspect
Police said the Austrian ringleader, who is now 20, had pledged allegiance to ISIS and planned to kill himself and “as many people as possible” outside the concert. Investigators found weapons, counterfeit bills, ISIS propaganda, as well as bomb-making material at his home. He remains in custody.
An Iraqi teen initially taken into custody during the investigation has since been released without charges, as well as a Turkish teen who was detained but later released.
