Taylor Swift’s concerts at Wembley Stadium in London later this month are set to go ahead as planned – with probable added security measures specifically deployed to foil potential terrorists.
The move comes after the cancellation of her three Eras Tour concerts in Vienna, which were targeted by an Islamic state-connected terrorist plot and foiled by U.S. and Austrian officials, as Breitbart News reported.
TMZ reports Taylor’s three upcoming shows in the capital will be relying on additional private security specializing in counterterrorism.
The outlet reports Wembley, in particular, commonly has high-level security measures in place, especially compared to similar venues, and it’s one of the safest in Europe from a counterterrorism perspective … but there are still concerns.
The pop megastar closes the European leg of her Eras Tour in London on 15, 16, 17, 19 and 20 August.
Diana Johnson, Minister for Policing of the United Kingdom, confirmed Scotland Yard is currently evaluating intelligence ahead of the concerts.
“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,” Johnson told LBC Radio.
Think she'll learn anything from it? https://t.co/BEBLZ2BA2N
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 8, 2024
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.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said while he understood Vienna’s reasons for canceling Swift’s dates, “We’re going to carry on.”
However, the inclusion of counterterrorism security forces reveals Wembley Stadium, law enforcement and concert organizers are taking a better safe than sorry approach to Taylor’s London dates, the TMZ report notes.
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.
“The 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’s concerts there in Vienna,” he said.
In a 2019 interview with Elle magazine, Swift shared that an attack on one of her gigs was “her biggest fear”.
“After the Manchester Arena bombing and the Vegas concert shooting [also in 2017], I was completely terrified to go on tour this time because I didn’t know how we were going to keep three million fans safe over seven months.”
She added: “There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe.”
