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The Taylor Swift terrorist has been slammed by a judge for grinning in court after admitting he planned to massacre fans at her Vienna concert.
Beran A., 21, appeared at the Regional Court in Wiener Neustadt, a city south of Vienna in Austria, on Tuesday, 28th April, where he pleaded guilty to the Taylor Swift attack plot.
Prosecutors say Beran A. had also been inspired by the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, in which Islamist terrorist Salman Abedi murdered 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert.
He reportedly cited the Manchester Arena suicide bombing as one possible model and envisioned blowing himself up among Taylor Swift fans in the same way Abedi detonated his device at the end of the Ariana Grande concert.
Police found TATP — triacetone triperoxide — which was described as the same explosive used by suicide bomber Abedi in the 2017 Manchester Arena attack.
The explosive was allegedly discovered in Beran A.’s fridge after his arrest in Ternitz, around 50 miles south of Vienna, on 7th August 2024.
A chemical report cited by German newspaper Bild said the Red Bull can bomb was almost complete and was only missing shrapnel to give it a devastating fragmentation effect.
The court also heard that Beran A. had tried to buy a hand grenade, a machine gun, a submachine gun and a pistol in July 2024.
The Austrian-Macedonian defendant of Albanian origin was brought into court in handcuffs under heavy guard and was shown pictures of himself carrying knives and wearing a balaclava.
When asked about the images, he reportedly said: “I thought it looked beautiful. It was extreme. I am someone. I thought I looked beautiful.”
He also admitted that he had wanted the pictures to go around the world.
Beran A. faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the most serious terror allegations, but the court also heard that his alleged religious wife and a teenage extremist contact are both free.
Nahri G., 19, from Bremen, Germany, who was married to him in an Islamic ceremony, was never charged despite investigators reportedly finding 27,789 messages between them in which they shared escalating violent fantasies.
A teenage contact from Germany, Mohammed A., now 16, was convicted in Berlin after admitting he translated bomb-making videos from Arabic into German for Beran A. and helped him with extremist contacts.
He was given an 18-month suspended sentence, partly because of his age and full confession, and is expected to give evidence in Vienna as a witness.
The court heard that one of Beran A.’s motives was a craving for attention and notoriety.
Speaking about Vienna terrorist Kujtim Fejzulai, who shot dead four people in the Austrian capital in 2020, Beran A. reportedly said: “I thought he was really cool. It was cool that this guy from Vienna got this global attention. That he became famous.”
Beran A. initially tried to hide his face behind a file as he was brought into the courtroom.
But local media reported that when he lowered it, he appeared to be smiling as he faced worldwide attention over the failed plot to attack thousands of Swifties outside the Ernst Happel Stadium in August 2024.
The judge reportedly told him: “You seem completely relaxed, smiling and making eye contact. As if the trial is a stage for you. My impression is that you are enjoying the stage.”
Beran A. replied that he had spent 20 months in solitary confinement at Josefstadt prison and had not seen so many people in a long time.
He told the court: “That is something special for me.”
In a police interview cited by German media, Beran A. allegedly said the attack at the Taylor Swift concert would have been spontaneous and that one option would have been to blow himself up like the Manchester bomber.
A confession video was played in court in which Beran A. reportedly said: “I have planned this for a long time. You will have read about it in the news. I simply had to do it.”
He added: “I really did this for Allah. I did nothing wrong. I gave everything up for Allah.”
The court also heard disturbing details about his earlier alleged plans abroad.
Prosecutors say Beran A., co-defendant Arda K., 21, and Hasan E., who is now in custody in Saudi Arabia, planned attacks in Dubai, Istanbul and Mecca.
Beran A. told the court he had stood near the Burj Khalifa in Dubai carrying three knives and looking for people who “looked Western”, but backed out after an inner struggle.
He reportedly said: “I felt like a loser.”
He denies contributing to an attempted murder in Mecca, an allegation which could significantly increase his sentence if proven.
(Mike Leidig/NF/NX)
Byline Journalist: Mike Leidig
Byline Sub editor: Simona Kitanovska
Byline Spotter: Mike Leidig
Byline Commisioning Editor: Angela Trajkovska
Byline Senior Writer: Mike Leidig
Byline Picture Editor: Nina Trajkov
Byline Copychecker: Angela Trajkovska
Byline Illustrator: Angela Trajkovska
Byline News Editor: Mike Leidig
Geography: Vienna
Subject: Legal, Crime, Terrorism
T4 Editor Story Rating: 8
T4 Editor Pic/Vid rating: 7
T4 Total rating: 7.5
