The foiled terrorist plot at the Taylor Swift concert intended to kill thousands of people

The foiled terrorist attack at a Taylor Swift Eras Tour concert in Vienna was aimed “to kill a huge number, tens of thousands of people,” including Americans, according to the deputy director of the CIA.

At the annual Intelligence Summit outside Washington, DC on Wednesday, David S. Cohen shared an update on the investigation into the terror plot earlier this month, which led to the pop star canceling all shows in the Austrian capital.

“They were plotting to kill a large number, tens of thousands of people at this concert, I’m sure many Americans,” Cohen said, as reported. The New York Times. “The Austrians were able to make those arrests because the agency and our partners in the intelligence community gave them information about what this ISIS-related group was planning to do.”

On August 7, Austrian concert promoter Barracuda Music announced that the three Eras Tour shows scheduled at Ernst Happel Stadium would be canceled due to an apparent terrorist plot. Austrian authorities have since arrested three people accused of plotting the attack, including one who was found with bomb-making material.

Cohen emphasized that they have no doubt that the purpose of the plot is to attack the Eras Tour show, killing a large number of spectators.

Weeks after the shows were cancelled, Swift broke her silence on the planned attacks, as well as expressing her gratitude to the authorities. “The cancellation of our shows in Vienna was devastating,” she wrote on Instagram. “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of dread and an enormous amount of guilt because so many people had planned to come to those shows.”

The superstar continued: “But I was so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them I was suffering concerts and not lives. I was encouraged by the love and unity I saw in the fans who came together.”

Cohen did not share how the CIA learned of the planned attack. The Times reported that 200,000 people were expected to attend Swift’s shows in Vienna.