Potential terrorist attack on Vienna Pride parade stopped by Austrian cops
Austrian authorities foiled a potential terrorist attack on a Pride parade Sunday in Vienna.
Three male suspects, ages 20, 17 and 14, were arrested before the parade began in the Austrian capital. Investigators said they were sympathizers of the Islamic State group.
There was “no danger for the participants of the parade at any time,” Austrian domestic intelligence chief Omar Haijawi-Pirchner said.
The attack would have involved a car and several knives, according to Haijawi-Pirchner. The suspects’ homes were searched on Saturday, and officers seized numerous weapons.
The plotters were identified only as Austrian citizens of Bosnian and Chechen descent. They got their radical views from the internet, according to investigators.
Vienna’s Pride parade went off as planned on Sunday, with local reports suggesting 300,000 people attended the celebration.
“We will not let the enemies of rights for LGBTQI people, democracy and an open society get us down,” organizers said in a statement.
Authorities said they considered canceling the parade to avoid the attack, but decided against it after determining the three suspects were acting alone. Their arrests hours ahead of the festivities allowed everything to continue as planned.
The arrests were announced after the parade began so that participants would not be afraid.
“That’s ultimately the goal of terrorism, to cause anxiety and fear in the public. It’s also our job not to let that happen,” Haijawi-Pirchner said, according to the BBC.
Authorities had monitored the suspects for weeks after hearing of the possible plot. One of the three people was already known to police after being accused of terrorism in the past.
“This shows once again that we must never give in in the fight against radicals and extremists,” Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer tweeted.
With News Wire Services
