Taylor Swift’s upcoming five Wembley concerts could see private counter-terrorism security forces deployed to keep thousands of fans safe, according to reports.
Sources claimed the popstar’s shows will be relying on the extra security in response to the Vienna terror plot which caused her to cancel all three shows in the city last week.
The singer, 34, was due to perform in front of an estimated 170,000 fans on August 8, 9, and 10 at Ernst Happel Stadium in the Austrian capital, but was forced to cancel after the horrific attack was exposed.
It has since been confirmed that radicalized teens aged 17 and 19 – including an ISIS fanatic – had ‘planned carnage with bomb, knives and vehicle attack on young fans.’
Now reports have emerged that Swift will be using private counterterrorism security forces to protect her fans due to the ongoing London riots placing a major strain on local police.
The decision comes after music performances are facing more attention following the bomb attack at Ariana Grande’s concert at Manchester Arena in 2017 which killed 22 people and injured 139 – most of them children and teenagers.
Sources told US-based showbiz site TMZ that despite Wembley having high-level security measures in place and being one of the safest in Europe from a counterterrorism perspective, there are still concerns.
Previous performances of the star’s Eras tour have seen throngs of her rabidly loyal fans, known as Swifties, gather outside venues and swarm shops – even if they don’t have tickets.
Concert organisers in Austria said they had expected up to 65,000 fans inside the stadium at each concert and as many as 30,000 onlookers outside, where authorities said the suspects planned to strike.
The number of fans outside has caused a headache for the security planners of the Wembley gigs, which are set to take place from August 15 to 20. They will be the last of Swift’s international tour leg before she returns to North America.
At the star’s performance in Munich on July 27, thousands of Swifties managed to see the concert for free after swarming a nearby hill.
Ben Knott, operations director at FGH Security in England, told TMZ that private security firms work with police outside of events where fans gather to try and sniff out suspicious people.
He said counterterrorism security forces tend to deploy plainclothes and uniformed personnel to look for people sticking out.
For instance, he said if someone was scanning the area for cameras and police, it would be a sign something was not right, and security would approach.
In most cases he said the tactic would be to ask if they need help with anything, but if security gets the ‘slightest whiff’ of anything nefarious, police will be called in immediately.
Meanwhile Wembley is in the process of beefing up its security measures for the concerts, according to a hospitality staffer at the concert venue.
It’s thought that there will be added safeguarding measures, such as walk-through metal detectors.
Policing minister Diana Johnson has said Scotland Yard is evaluating intelligence ahead of Swift’s Wembley concerts.
She told LBC Radio: ‘Clearly, the police will be looking at all the intelligence and making decisions, they risk assess every event that happens in this country, and that’s something for the police.’
The minister also said that there is a provision to invoke Martyn’s law, which ‘is about making sure that those venues which could be subject to terrorist attack have in place everything that they need in terms of keeping people safe, and that will be brought forward by the government shortly.’
Swift previously announced that her five London shows will each feature a high-profile special guest, including indie pop star Sofia Isella, Maisie Peters, Holly Humberstone and Suki Waterhouse.
Like her previous June gigs at Wembley, all the upcoming shows are sold out.
Experts have warned that the terrorist threats to gigs are ‘a wake-up call,’ with Chris Phillips, former head of the UK’s National Counter Terrorism Security Office, previously telling The Sun: ‘Music events are right on the high point of terrorist targets.’
‘You have to carry on with business as usual and make sure nothing happens. Terrorists mustn’t be allowed to win. But we have got to be alert.’
Concerns over a terrorist attack have been a long-running concern for Swift. In 2019, she wrote a piece for ELLE magazine saying an attack during one of her concerts was ‘my biggest fear’.
She said: ‘After the Manchester Arena bombing and the [2017] Vegas concert shooting, I was completely terrified to go on tour this time because I didn’t know how we were going to keep 3 million fans safe over seven months.’
‘There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe.’
She added that her ‘fear of violence’ led her to always carry ‘army grade bandage dressing’ for gunshot or stab wounds wherever she goes.
Other instances of terrorist attacking music performances include the Bataclan in Paris in 2015, as well as the Moscow City Hall attack earlier this year.
But Swift’s fans remain determined to celebrate her music, despite the threat of terrorism.
Following the cancelled Austrian leg fans flooded the streets of Vienna donning their elaborate concert outfits and friendship bracelets to sing and dance to the popstar’s hits.
The group, suggesting that although the concert was cancelled the terrorists still did not win, belted out the words to ‘Karma’, as well as Swift’s protest song ‘Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince’ and ‘You Need to Calm Down’, which is widely recognised as her anti-hate and pro-LGBTQ anthem.
Authorities say both apprehended teenage suspects appear to have been inspired by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida.
The main suspect confessed – identified as ISIS fanatic Beran A. – that he had started planning the attack in July, authorities said.
The 19-year-old just a few weeks ago uploaded to the internet an oath of allegiance to the current leader of the Islamic State group.
He was ‘clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels,’ said Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence.
Haijawi-Pirchner added that the suspect ‘wanted to carry out an attack in the area outside the stadium, killing as many people as possible using the knives or even using the explosive devices he had made.’
During a raid of the suspect’s home in Ternitz, south of Vienna, investigators found chemical substances and technical devices that indicated ‘concrete preparatory acts,’ said Franz Ruf, director general for public security at the Ministry of the Interior.
Authorities said they also found Islamic State group and al-Qaida material at the home of the second suspect, who is 17.
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.
The 19-year-old is an Austrian with North Macedonian roots. The 17-year-old is an Austrian with Turkish and Croatian roots.
Concert organiser Barracuda Music said in an Instagram post late Wednesday that it had ‘no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety.’
Barracuda said all tickets would be refunded. The same message was posted under the Vienna dates on Swift’s official website. Austrian rail operator OeBB in the meantime said that it would reimburse fans for unused train tickets for the concerts.
A Met Police spokesperson said: ‘London plays hosts to a significant number of very high profile events each year with millions of visitors having a safe and enjoyable experience.
‘The Met works closely with venue security teams and other partners to ensure there are appropriate security and policing plans in place.
‘There is nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London.
‘As always, we will continue to keep any new information under careful review.’
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said this week: ‘We have a huge amount of experience in policing these events, we’re never complacent.
‘Many lessons were learned after the awful Manchester Arena attack. The police work closely, not just with City Hall, but with councils, but also with those who host concerts, like the one coming up over the next couple of weeks.
‘I’m sure Vienna has its own reasons to cancel the Taylor Swift concerts, we’re going to carry on, working closely with police and ensuring the concerts can take place safely.’
Swift’s Eras Tour will end in Vancouver, Canada, on December 8.
The 152-date concert series, in which Swift runs through hits from her 17-year career, is expected to surpass $2 billion by the end of its run, with the staggering per night receipts revealed by Variety last month.
