VIENNA (AP) 鈥� Austrian authorities on Friday announced a third arrest in connection with the foiled conspiracy to attack three now-canceled , even as disappointed fans charmed Vienna by trading friendship bracelets and singing the pop star鈥檚 songs in the streets.
The main suspect, a 19-year-old, gathered outside Ernst Happel Stadium 鈥� up to 30,000 each night, with another 65,000 inside the venue 鈥� with knives or homemade explosives during the concert on Thursday or Friday. The suspect hoped to 鈥渒ill as many people as possible," authorities said.
He was on Tuesday, along with a 17-year-old, officials said. Both are Austrian citizens.
The third suspect, an 18-year-old Iraqi citizen, was arrested Thursday evening, the interior minister said at an unrelated news conference Friday.
A 15-year-old was also interrogated but was not arrested. Their names were not released, in line with Austrian privacy rules.
is still set to travel to London鈥檚 Wembley stadium for five concerts between Aug. 15 and 20 to close the European leg of her record-setting Eras Tour.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that while he understood Vienna鈥檚 reasons for canceling, 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to carry on.鈥�
Still, the Vienna plot drew comparisons to a 2017 attack by a suicide bomber in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people. The bomb detonated at the end of Grande鈥檚 concert as thousands of young fans were leaving, becoming the deadliest extremist attack in the United Kingdom in recent years.
Coldplay is scheduled to play four nights at the same Vienna stadium later this month.
Authorities said the scheme was inspired by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida. The main suspect, as well as the 18-year-old arrested Friday, pledged 鈥渁n oath of allegiance鈥� to the Islamic State group.
Investigators discovered bomb-making materials at the main suspect鈥檚 home, as well as Islamic State group and al-Qaida material at the 17-year-old鈥檚 home. That suspect, who has so far refused to talk, was employed a few days ago by a company providing unspecified services at the venue for the concerts.
Although the 18-year-old swore the oath and 鈥渃omes from the social environment鈥� of the main suspect, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said, he is not directly linked to the plot.
The Austrian Interior Ministry, in a statement Friday to The Associated Press, said 鈥渉is arrest underscores the broad scope of the ongoing investigation. Authorities are taking decisive action against anyone who might be involved in terrorist activities or exhibits radical tendencies.鈥�
Investigators are scrutinizing the 鈥渘etworks鈥� of the suspects, the statement said, and have turned to evaluating physical and electronic evidence.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby spoke to reporters Friday regarding the U.S. role in providing intelligence to Austria related to the Swift concerts.
鈥淭he United States has an enduring focus on our counterterrorism mission. We work closely with partners all over the world to monitor and disrupt threats. And so as part of that work, the United States did share information with Austrian partners to enable the disruption of a threat to Taylor Swift鈥檚 concerts there in Vienna,鈥� he said.
Shiraz Maher, an expert on Islamic extremism with the Department of War Studies at King鈥檚 College London, said in a statement to the AP that attackers 鈥減rioritize casualties and therefore choose soft targets where they know large numbers of people will be congregating.鈥�
said it canceled the three-night Eras Tour run, scheduled to begin Thursday, because the arrests were too close to showtime.
consoled each other on social media and in the streets of Vienna. After , , a small street just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the stadium whose name echoes that of 鈥淐ornelia Street,鈥� a contemplative synth-pop track from Swift鈥檚 2019 album, 鈥淟over.鈥�
They sang Swift's top hits, took selfies and traded friendship bracelets hanging from the branches of the only tree on the street. Swift fans often swap the beaded bracelets, typically bearing Swift鈥檚 song titles or popular phrases, with strangers at her concerts.
Huiyeon Kim, 22, took a 14-hour flight from South Korea to Vienna for the concert. On Friday, she was among some 300 fans spending the day on Corneliusgasse. She called the cancellation 鈥渟o disappointing.鈥�
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 understand or believe it," she told AP. 鈥淚 think it was very very sad.鈥�
Meanwhile, younger fans and their parents traveled to the Vienna zoo for sightseeing 鈥� and discovered references to Swift's songs among souvenirs in the gift shop, photos posted to social media show.
The lyric 鈥淜arma is a cat" 鈥� written in paper banners designed like friendship bracelets, of course 鈥� was nestled among stuffed felines, quoting 鈥淜arma鈥� off the 2022 album 鈥淢idnights.鈥�
Even as the fans belted out the superstar has not spoken publicly about the plot or canceled shows. 鈥淭aylor Nation,鈥� a verified Instagram page widely believed to be run by her team, reposted the announcement from Barracuda Music, while her main account has not posted anything.
A representative for Swift did not respond to AP鈥檚 multiple requests for comment this week.
Last month, when a suspect in England people in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class, the performer said she was 鈥樷�檆ompletely in shock鈥欌�� over the violence.
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Dazio reported from Berlin. Associated Press writers Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin; Maria Sherman in New York; Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark; Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland; Danica Kirka in London; and David Klepper, Ellen Knickmeyer and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.
Philipp-moritz Jenne And Stefanie Dazio, The Associated Press
