#manchester arena bombing

[intriguingpeoplebyangelafloyd]

TAYLOR SWIFT & ARIANA GRANDE

TAYLOR SWIFT CONCERTS UNDER THREAT

9 August 2024

            Taylor Swift has cancelled three concerts in Vienna, Austria after an Islamic terrorist attack plot was uncovered by authorities. In Vienna, two suspects were arrested on Wednesday, 7 July 2024. One of the perpetrators homes was searched and various chemicals were discovered. The authorities discovered that the terrorists were planning to target Swift’s concerts at the Vienna stadium. Swift will be increasing security at all her concerts from now on and hopefully from now on all will be safe.

            It was only July 2024 when three young Taylor Swift fans were at a dance party, and were murdered in northwest England. The perpetrator was a male teenager 17, who intended to kill as many children as possible. His family came to England from Rwanda in 2002 and even though he had murdered and harmed innocent people the authorities are protecting his identity, still to this day his photo hasn’t been released.

            On 22 May 2017, 22 innocent people were killed in an Islamic terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in England. The two perpetrators intended to target children and had injured over a thousand people. At the inquest it was found that more should have been done by British police to stop the attack and that the authorities acted ‘too slowly’. Grande had to cancel concerts concerned for her fan’s safety. Many of the deceased were aged under 20; one was aged 8.

            It’s very sad that terrorists are now targeting teenagers and children, in places where they go just to have fun and they should be safe.

#taylorswift #arianagrande #manchesterarenabombing #viennaaustria

[freenorthnow]

It's been seven years since the Manchester Arena bombings.

Our thoughts are with the survivors and families of the victims on this painful day.

[trendynewsnow]

British Family Wins Harassment Lawsuit Against Conspiracy Theorist Over Manchester Arena Attack Claims

British Family Wins Harassment Lawsuit Against Conspiracy Theorist A British man and his daughter, who suffered grave injuries in a tragic suicide bombing at a concert in England in 2017, have successfully won a harassment lawsuit against a conspiracy theorist. This individual had spread false claims suggesting that the horrific terror attack was merely an elaborate hoax. The case in the UK drew…

[matan4il]

What's your evidence that Joost Klein harassed Eden at ESC? I've only seen evidence of Joost being harassed by Israeli delegation. And he was an assholeish idiot at the press conference but he wasn't the worst. And can people pleaaase stop spreading the smear campaign the EBU put out about him. He made a rude gesture, that's it.

Hi,

I'm gonna admit that if you saw the Dutch performer's behavior at the press conference, IDK how that doesn't constitute harassment? I mean, the part where he didn't like that the ESC organizers made him sit next to the Israeli singer, and he didn't want to be in the same frame with her, so he covered himself with the Dutch flag wasn't just being an asshole, he was publicly humiliating her, transmitting to everyone what a pariah she is, not based on anything she's said and done, but simply based on her nationality (and this little stunt was obviously going to attract attention, meaning he minded being photographed next to her, but he didn't mind being photographed covered up with the flag like that in the same frame with her, making it clear this wasn't him wanting to avoid political stuff).

In my book, that's bad enough, but then he added insult to injury. Eden was asked a disgusting question by a Polish journalist. He wanted to know whether she considered that she would be putting everyone else at ESC at risk (victim blaming much? Eden was the target of a violent mob besieging her hotel room, and turning her participation into an event requiring security. She didn't ask them to do this, she didn't force them to, she's a 20 year old girl, who has dreamt of representing her country at ESC for years, and when she finally gets to, she's being asked to carry the blame for the violence aimed at her due to her nationality... Imagine asking Ariana Grande after her Manchester Arena performance if she took into account that she was risking the lives of all of her fans, because an Islamist decided to use her event for a terrorist bombing that killed 22 young people, and would she never perform again, now that she was aware of the risk? No, that didn't happen, because it's a disgusting, victim blaming, terrorism-rewarding question). The panel host rightfully grasped that this was a political and harassing question, and told her she didn't have to answer it. Joost Klein then shouting at that, "Why not?" was harassment. He was piling up on the victim blaming, on top of showing zero empathy for a fellow performer targeted for her nationality, in a way he never would have agreed to be himself.

(I think that's last assessment is obvious since we now know he thought, even for a split second, that it was okay to threaten with fists a female camerawoman working for ESC, doing her job, filming the performers when they got off stage after their performances. This was done to the other performers as well, IDK what made Klein think his consent was needed in that moment, since to me it seems implied by agree to represent the Netherlands at ESC, but even if he had the right to refused being filmed, I have no idea what made him believe it was okay to use violent threats against an ESC employee).

I'd like to ask you where did you see "evidence" that Klein was harassed by the Israeli delegation? As far as I'm aware, there was only one vid trying to make that claim, and what was seen in that one, was an Israeli journalist (so, not a part of the performing team), working as a European correspondent (he also covered the war in Ukraine, to give you an idea of what that job entails, so he's a "respectable" journalist, not just a guy with a mic interviewing people for his ESC blog), called Dov Gil-Har (as far as I know, he's aligned with the left politically, so not exactly someone likely to be harassing people out of nationalistic sentiments), who was trying to ask Klein questions. Which... the last time I checked is his duty as a journalist. And Klein refused to answer Gil-Har's questions, which is his prerogative (though I do think it was pretty disgusting when some performers, like the Norwegian ones, refused to give interviews to any Israeli media outlets. Since it's based on nationality, it's once again hateful IMO), but then the Dutch team's manager (or whatever he was) really got in Gil-Har's face, and more than that, because I clearly heard Dov saying, "Don't touch me." Keep in mind, this was after Klein's shameful behavior at the press conference, and also after he missed a rehearsal that day, there were rumors circling around it somehow had something to do with Israel, so it is honestly the most natural thing for Gil-Har as a journalist, that he wanted to ask the Dutch team some questions. That should not have ended with him having to say, "Don't touch me," but to further misconstrue this as him harassing the Dutch team...!? WHAT?

It feels like another instance of DARVO, where the attacker/harasser/abuser shifts the fire away by reversing who was doing the harassment and who was being harassed. Everything we saw on camera was harassment of the Israelis, including even the media, while I've not seen one documentation on film of the Israelis harassing others. Plus, I heard the claim that the Israeli team was harassing everyone, yet we know that some performers didn't feel, act or express themselves that way.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[vashtijoy]

the list of incidents in the background

This is the list of incidents that appears in the background on TV, in the 10/4 cinematic with Sae, the SIU Director, and Akechi. Let's take a look at them, one by one, to see (some of?) what's been going on.

バス暴走死傷事故 basu bousou shishou jiko reckless bus driving accident that caused injuries and deaths

This is explicitly described as a bousou—the word meaning "runaway" or "rampage" that the original name for "psychotic breakdown" uses, and the original name for Call of Chaos uses. In this context, it means reckless driving. Also shishou is "deaths and injuries"—this is explicitly a fatal accident. The game wants us to know that, even if nobody died in that subway crash, people have died in these mysterious incidents.

コンビニ爆発物事件 konbini bakuhatsumono jiken convenience store bombing incident

What? Did someone bomb a convenience store? Well, maybe not. If you're following the news, the recent incident where someone threw a smoke bomb at PM Kishida Fumio is being described as a bakuhatsumono jiken. So this could be relatively tame.

Or it might not be. The Manchester Arena bombing, where people leaving an Ariana Grande concert were blown up and many died, is also a bakuhatsumono jiken. It could go either way.

トンネル内放火事件 tonneru nai houka jiken arson inside a tunnel incident

Short and sweet. Could be another subway incident, but since it's not explicitly mentioned as being one, it's more likely a road tunnel or something? Fires in tunnels can be devastating, of course.

ヨットハーバー燃料漏出 yotto haabaa nenryou roushutsu marina fuel leak

This sounds like another one that could have been quite dramatic. Marinas tend to be places where rich and powerful people hang out, so this is likely to do with someone being explicitly targetted?

翼田リムジンバス突入事故 yokuta (?) rimushinbasu totsunyuu jiko Yokuta (?) Airport shuttle bus crash accident

Hahaha, this one is fun. First, a "limousine bus" is an airport bus—the ones that run you out to the plane. The airport is a spoof of Haneda Airport. 羽田 "Haneda", to Yokuta (?)'s 翼田—they've changed the first kanji for another one that means "wing".

A totsunyuu jiko is a car crash, but seems to be specifically a crash where the vehicle crashes into a fixed obstacle? So some poor driver smashed their shuttle bus into a wall.

新都市交通あねはづる事故 shin toshi koutsuu anehazuru jiko Anehazuru Monorail case

This one is a P3 reference. shin toshi koutsuu—"New Urban Transport", a term for a "people mover" or monorail. The Shin Toshi Koutsuu Anehazuru is the monorail in P3.

We don't know what happened there, but this may be the only indication that anything happens outside Tokyo in P5 (besides Shido getting his drama on with Joker).

An anehazuru, BTW, is a type of bird, the demoiselle crane.

内閣部サイバー攻撃事件 naikakufu saibaa kougeki jiken Cabinet Office cyberattack incident

This one is interesting because it's so unlike the rest—though there are a lot of data leaks during the Medjed arc, which suggests the conspiracy is somehow taking the opportunity to carry them out. Cyberattacks certainly don't seem in Akechi's line (though he might be responsible for locating worthwhile targets?), so this might just have been swept in with the accidents and "incidents".

An attack on the Cabinet Office, of course, makes it a political attack, and exceptionally likely to be Shido-motivated somehow.

毒薬混入事件 dokuyaku kon'nyuu jiken poison adulteration incident; poisoning incident.

The last on the list: someone, or several someones, were poisoned.

so what do we know

While only one of these, the top one, is explicitly described as fatal, it doesn't take much of a stretch to see that many of them could have been fatal—and the fact that they aren't all called "fatal accident" doesn't make them necessarily not fatal.

Plus, the list fills the screen. These are unlikely to be all the cases; they're the most recent ones, or the ones the studio thought most worthy of note.

[thestylesindependent]

When it comes to audience engagement for Harry Styles… again, no notes. He had a dedicated segment of the show where he took a moment to appreciate the signs people were holding up, which led to some conversations about birthdays, upcoming weddings and even naming babies after him (the expectant mother was due to give birth on the day of the show, to which Harry questioned whether being at the show was a “good idea” before offering to bring her water, a chair or a blanket).

He also played his latest single ‘Satellite’, as well as ‘Late Night Talking’ and ‘Fine Line’. A poignant moment came during ‘Sign of the Times’ when fans had arranged pink and red lights to be shone during the song as a tribute to the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017. Harry commented on the “beautiful” display.

A brilliant show and one not to be missed if you enjoy pop music as Harry Styles’ show is a masterclass in how it’s done.

[glindaselphie]

7 years today since the manchester arena bombing that claimed 22 lives 💔

ariana, those 22 angels, the people of manchester and everyone else affected by that awful awful night are in my thoughts today 🐝

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Andrew Doyle

Published: Feb 26, 2024

[ Credit: Miriam Elia ]

Far away in the land of Sylvania, some woodland creatures have gathered to celebrate Pride. There’s a cross-dressing fox, a PVC-clad boar, a rabbit in full drag on a float. Rainbow flags and bunting abound. But just out of sight, perched above an ice-cream kiosk, are three sinister little figures in black face masks. They could be hedgehogs. They could be squirrels. One of them has a machine gun.

Isis in Sylvania was the work of the satirist Miriam Elia, a set of tableaux which was meant to be shown at the Passion for Freedom art exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London in 2015. The pieces were withdrawn after police said they might cause offence. That the gallery capitulated so easily would suggest that its self-declared “passion for freedom” was limited.

Elia’s display brilliantly lampooned our infantile response to the growing threat of Islamic terrorism, and it seems more relevant today than ever. After the police had sent emails to the gallery declaring that��Isis in Sylvania was “not art” and that “all mentions of it should be removed from the promotional materials, social media etc”, Elia responded:

“The decision to censor shows that our establishment is more threatened by satire, clarity and truth than by young men willing to kill, rape and pillage in the name of Islam. Apparently my images were ‘potentially inflammatory’ to terrorists. This is the equivalent of saying an anti-Nazi cartoon in the late 1930s was offensive… to Nazis. Those who justify and protect barbaric totalitarianism, in whichever form, are on the fast track to becoming totalitarian themselves.”

The reaction of the police, of course, exemplified the very problem that Elia had been satirising in the first place.

It should be clear to everyone by now that kowtowing to the wishes of terrorists only encourages them. Last week Lindsay Hoyle, speaker of the House of Commons, was pressurised into overriding parliamentary convention because of an apparent risk to security. He spoke of “absolutely frightening” threats directed at MPs because of their reluctance to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. He also alluded to the murder of MP David Amess by an ISIS sympathiser. “I never want to go through a situation where I find a friend from any side has been murdered,” he said, “I also don’t want another attack on this House.” The word “Islamist” was not mentioned, as though not talking about the problem might make it disappear.

Hoyle is correct that the threat of violence is very real. Nobody would seek to downplay the murder of David Amess at his constituency surgery in Essex in 2021, or the beheading of schoolteacher Samuel Paty in Paris in 2020, or the massacre at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015. But our tendency to forget these atrocities, and move on as if nothing has happened, is chilling. Many of our politicians are too afraid to address the issues out of fear of being branded “islamophobic”, an absurd neologism often deployed to conflate anti-Muslim hatred with legitimate criticism of Islam.

How much reflection was there after the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017 in which children and teenagers were slain? After the killing of Amess there was endless discussion in parliament about how we needed to crack down on social media, as though the radical Islamist responsible was motivated by online trolling rather than the creed of a medieval death-cult. We are like the woodland animals in another of Elia’s scenes, blissfully enjoying a picnic while armed and masked assailants appear on the horizon.

[ Credit: Miriam Elia ]

So while I have sympathy for Hoyle’s very human reaction to the spectre of violence, it is clear that the failure of politicians to accurately diagnose the problem is only making matters worse. Those few brave individuals who are prepared to speak out are putting themselves in danger. But with a collective effort the risk could be spread and at least become tolerable. After the Charlie Hebdo atrocity, media outlets refused to show the offending cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, but if all of them had done so simultaneously, the threat could have been diluted.

If the speaker of the House of Commons is prepared to modify parliamentary procedures due to threats from far-left cranks and radical islamists, where does this leave our democracy? It is hardly surprising that increasingly we are seeing commentators claiming that the values of liberalism cannot be sustained against this particular brand of authoritarianism. They suggest that liberals are too weak to tackle those who do not share their commitment to individual freedom.

It is true that too often exemptions have been made out of fear of causing offence to religious minorities. Police in the north of England failed to enforce the law against predominately Pakistani grooming gangs for fear of being branded “racist”. The inquiry into the Manchester Arena bombing found that security guards held back from intercepting the killer for similar reasons. Sharia courts have been operating in the United Kingdom for decades and, although their rulings have no legal standing, they do hold authority within Muslim communities. And we have seen how police have overlooked some of the worst behaviour at the now regular pro-Palestine marches in London.

But this is not a weakness at the heart of liberalism; it is the failure to properly follow its principles. All branches of liberal thought – from the conservative liberalism of Friedrich Hayek to the social liberalism of John Rawls – share an understanding that the rule of law is paramount. Individual autonomy cannot be preserved if the state is unable to maintain the peace and impartially resolve the natural conflicts of human existence.

A well-intentioned commitment to multiculturalism has enabled parallel societies to flourish within the United Kingdom. In turn, this has granted authority to the most reactionary elements within religious communities. Sharia law may be an ambition for ultra-conservative theocrats, but many female and gay Muslims will not find it such an appealing prospect. We need to stop appeasing these minorities within minorities, small groups of extremists that by no means represent the average British Muslim. And this means that our parliamentarians must retain their courage, even in the face of violent threats.

More than anything, we need to be able to talk about this crisis with honesty and candour. However comforting it might be in the short term, our political class cannot go on living in their Sylvanian fantasy, wilfully oblivious to the masked elephant in the room. This denialism is a form of procrastination, putting off the inevitable for another day. The values of our liberal democracy and our hard-won rights are under threat. It’s time to grow up. 

A limited edition book of all the images in Miriam Elia’s “Isis in Sylvania” series is available to buy here. A signed limited edition print of the picnic scene is available here.

==

We have to stop being panicked when people claim to be offended.

[beardedmrbean]

Shamima Begum has lost her latest bid to overturn the government’s decision to strip her of British citizenship, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

Ms Begum left the UK aged 15 with two other east London schoolgirls to travel to Syria in February 2015.

Last year, she lost a challenge against the decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

Here are the key developments to date:

August 1999: Shamima Begum is born in England to parents of Bangladeshi heritage.

February 2015: British counter-terrorism police launched an international hunt to find three London schoolgirls who were making their way to the so-called Islamic State’s (Isis) territory in Syria.

Ms Begum, 15, had slipped out of her house in east London, with friends, Kadiza Sultant, 16 and Amira Abase. They caught a flight to Istanbul, Turkey and travelled to the Syrian border from there.

In late February, the Metropolitan police confirm that Begum and her friends had reached Syria. Ten days after arriving in the country, Shamima Begum marries Yago Riedijk, a Dutch-born convert to Islam and a convicted terrorist.

October 2017: A US-backed alliance of Syrian fighters takes full control of Raqqa, ending three years of Isis rule in the city.

13 February 2019: The Times’ war correspondent Anthony Loyd finds Ms Begum, then 19-years-old, at the al-Hawl refugee camp in Northern Syria. A pregnant Ms Begum tells him that she wants to return to the UK to raise her child but that she did not regret her decision to join Isis. She says that she had had two other children who died of malnutrition.

She says she had been unfazed by seeing the head of a beheaded man as he was an “enemy of Islam” but believes that Isis did not deserve victory.

Three days later, Ms Begum gives birth to a baby boy.

19 February 2019: The UK government serves notice that it intends to strip Ms Begum of her British citizenship.

The then-Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, writes to Ms Begum’s parents to inform them of his order to strip her citizenship. He believes that, because her parents are of Bangladeshi heritage, she can apply for citizenship of that country.

The law allows the government to remove citizenship if they can show the person behaved “in a manner which is seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the UK” and when there is “reasonable grounds for believing that the person is able, under the law of a country or territory outside the UK, to become a national of such a country or territory.”

24 February 2019: Ms Begum’s father, Ahmed Ali, speaks to The Mail on Sunday and says that he “doesn’t have a problem” with his daughter’s British citizenship being removed.

Speaking from his home in Bangladesh, he said: “If she at least admitted she made a mistake then I would feel sorry for her and other people would feel sorry for her, but she does not accept her wrong.”

16 July 2020: The Court of Appeal rules that Ms Begum should be permitted to return to the UK in order to fairly contest the British government’s decision to revoke her citizenship. This ruling was appealed and sent to the Supreme Court.

26 February 2021: On February 26, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously against bringing Ms Begum back, thus reversing the previous decision.

15 September 2021: Ms Begum asks the British people for forgiveness in an interview with ITV. The now-22-year-old says that Isis’s killing of innocent people is “unjustifiable”.

She apologised for comments she had previously made to a BBC journalist about the Manchester Arena bombing. In 2019, she had claimed - when asked about the 2017 attack - that it was wrong to kill innocent people, but that Isis considered it justified as retaliation for coalition bombing of Isis-held areas.

She told ITV: “I do not believe that one evil justifies another evil. I don’t think that women and children should be killed for other people’s motives and for other people’s agendas.”

November 2022

Before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), Ms Begum’s counsel said: “Without seeking to investigate and determine, still less consider, whether she was a child victim of trafficking and whether there were failures by public authorities in the UK to prevent her being trafficked.”

January 2023

In the BBC podcast series, she said she understood public anger towards her but insisted she was not a “bad person”.

She said she accepted she was viewed “as a danger, as a risk”, but blamed her portrayal in the media.

February 22, 2023

Ms Begum lost her appeal in a SIAC court to overturn the government’s decision to strip her of her British citizenship.

October 2023

Ms Begum’s appeal against the loss of her British citizenship began in the Court of Appeal.

Begum’s team of barristers claim she was a victim of Isis propaganda and was groomed into terrorism.

Samantha Knights KC told the court the government had failed to consider the legal duties owed to Ms Begum as a potential victim of trafficking or as a result of “state failures” in her case.

February 2024

Three judges dismissed Ms Begum‘s bid at the Court of Appeal.

Giving the ruling, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr said: “It could be argued the decision in Ms Begum‘s case was harsh. It could also be argued that Ms Begum is the author of her own misfortune.

“But it is not for this court to agree or disagree with either point of view. Our only task is to assess whether the deprivation decision was unlawful.

[princesscatherinemiddleton]

The Princess of Wales' Year in Review: May

May 4th - The Duchess of Cambridge, Patron of the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, held an Early Years Meeting. Later, she presented The Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design to Saul Nash, on behalf of The Queen May 6th - The Duchess of Cambridge became Patron of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, and she released a video message marking her new role May 10th - The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the opening of the Glade of Light Memorial for victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombings May 11th - The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Scotland. First, William and Catherine (in her role as Patron of Action for Children) visited St John’s Primary School, where they participated in a Roots of Empathy session. They then visited the Wheatley Group to see how it is transforming the lives of disadvantaged young people and families, before visiting the University of Glasgow, where they spoke to students about mental health and wellbeing May 13th - William and Catherine recorded and read a message for a special radio broadcast in honour of Mental Health Awareness Week May 18th - The Duchess of Cambridge attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace, along with The Earl and Countess of Wessex and Princess Alexandra May 19th - The Duchess of Cambridge, Patron of the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, held an Early Years Meeting. That evening, William and Catherine attended the Royal Film Performance of 'Top Gun: Maverick' May 24th - The Duchess of Cambridge, Patron of the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, held an Early Years Meeting May 25th - The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace, along Princess Beatrice, The Earl and Countess of Wessex and The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. Catherine also participated in a private zoom call with health visitors

[brexiiton]

Shocking detail in Taylor Swift terror attack plot revealed

A shocking detail have been revealed that demonstrates how dangerously close three teens came to carrying out a suspected attack at a Taylor Swift concert.

Lexie Cartwright, August 9, 2024 - 6:18am

It's been claimed that the suspected terrorists who plotted an attack on Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna, Austria this week had their friends hired as security for the event.

Three teenagers were arrested Wednesday in connection with the criminal conspiracy, including a 19-year-old male, who was detained in Ternitz, which is an hour outside Vienna where Swift was to host three back-to-back shows at Ernst Happel Stadium from Thursday night.

The man allegedly planned to drive a car into the some 20,000 fans who were expected to gather outside the huge stadium during the concert.

The Sun reports that his friends had infiltrated security at the even, where they were hired to help with set up and stewarding.

Some of Swift's fans who travelled to Vienna for the now-cancelled shows have lashed out at the star. Picture: Getty Images TAS Rights Management.

Authorities reportedly found various chemicals and other substances at a residence in Vienna after receiving a tip from foreign intelligence agencies.

A second person was arrested in the capital while authorities continued to hunt further suspects.

Swift's 'biggest fear' was a terror plot

In the wake of Taylor Swift cancelling her shows. an interview has resurfaced in which she revealed such a scenario would be her "biggest fear".

In an article for Ella in 2019, Swift shared her fears over the attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, UK, and revealed that she always carries "QuikClot army grade bandage dressing, which is for gunshot or stab wounds".

"My biggest fear," Swift wrote at the time, "After the Manchester Arena bombing and the 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."

"My fear of violence has continued into my personal life," she said, adding that she carried "QuikClot army grade bandage dressing, which is for gunshot or stab wounds."

Taylor Swift was planning to play three sold-out shows in Vienna, Austria from Thursday night. Picture: JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP

Stadium officials "had no choice" but to cancel shows

Organisers announced on Wednesday that they had made the decision to cancel all of Swift's concerts, saying they were left with "no choice" but to pull the pin for safety reasons.

"With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone's safety," event organiser Barracuda Music said in a post on Instagram.

Franz Ruf, Austrian Director General for Public Safety, said authorities believed the suspects became radicalised online and pledged allegiance to the leader of IS in July.

"The suspected perpetrator was focused on the Taylor Swift concerts. Preparatory actions were detected," Mr Ruf said.

Earlier, Vienna's head of police Gerhard Pürstl warned an "abstract danger" remained despite the arrests, with 65,000 people expected to attend Swift's shows per day, as well as 22,000 fans outside the venue.

Swift is yet to comment.

Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadion was the target of an ISIS terror plot, where Swift was hosting three shows. Picture: Christian Bruna/Getty Images

According to Kronen Zeitung, a local media outlet, police were planning for a boosted operation if Swift's shows were to go ahead, including long guns, bomb squads and K-9 dogs being stationed to the area.

It comes one week after Swift's fans were targeted in northwest England, where three young girls were killed after 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana allegedly went on a stabbing spree at a dance class held in honour of the Grammy winning artist.

A motive for Rudakubana's murders has not yet been revealed.

Swift released a statement shortly after the incident, saying she was "completely in shock" over what happened.

Swift is embarking on the Europe leg of her Eras Tour. Picture: JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP

More than 65,000 fans were expected to attend her Vienna shows per day. Picture: Sergei GAPON/AFP

"The horror of yesterday's attack in Southport is washing over me continuously, and I'm just completely in shock," Swift wrote in her statement, posted on her Instagram story.

"The loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families, and first responders. These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for now to ever convey my sympathies to these families."

Swift is currently embarking on the Europe leg of her blockbuster Eras Tour, with Vienna marking her second-last stop before she hosts five sellout shows at London's Wembley Stadium.

The singer will then take a two-month break, before concluding the tour in Canada from November.

[sporadiceagleheart]

This is Thursday April 11th 2024 is for those victims that was gunned down and also for the Manchester Arena victims that was bombed down as well they aren't just rappers wrestlers kids or dreamers but they are angels sent back to heaven Ava Jordan Wood, Olivia Pratt Korbel, Saffie Rose Roussos, Pop Smoke, Young Dolph, Tupac Shakur and Christopher George Latore Wallace, Natalia Victoria Wallace, Shinzo Abe, Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Rev, Martin Luther King Jr., Secoriea Turner, Royta De'Marco Layfield Giles Jr., Davon McNeal, Dajore Wilson, Mekhi James, Judith and Maria Barsi, Janari A. Ricks, Carolyn Kay “Katy” Davis, Christiana Mae “Chrissy” Duarte, Shirley Virginia Ferrell Drouet, Stacee Ann Etcheber, Brisenia Ylianna Flores, Keri Lynn Galvan, Christian Riley Garcia, Angela Christine “Angie” Gomez, Jaime Taylor Guttenberg, Nicole Marie Hadley, Caitlin Millar Hammaren, Linda Sue Miller Hathorn, Aubrey Wright Hawkins, Demetrius C. “D” Hewlin, Rachael Elizabeth Hill, Emily Jane Hilscher, Dawn Alyson Lafferty Hochsprung, Anah Michelle Hodges, Winter Ashley Hodges, Kenzie Marie Houk, Lisa Rachelle Huff Huff, Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, Caleb Curtis Jackson, Dwayne Clifford Jackson Jr., Honesty Faith Jackson, Jonah Curtis Jackson, Trinity Hope Jackson, Jessica Jeanette James, Veronica Lynn “Tina” Jefferson, SGT Kent Dean Kincaid, Lawrence Fobes “Larry” King, Kandy Janell Kirtland, Russell Dennis King Jr., Amy Michelle Kitchen, Carly Anne Buchholtz Kreibaum, Matthew Joseph La Porte VVETERAN, Cara Marie Loughran, Trayvon Benjamin Martin, Rhonda M. LeRocque, Rebecka Ann Carnes, Adriana “Adri” Dukić, Cassie Bernall, Ross Abdallah Alameddine, Arielle Anderson, Lucero Alcaraz, PnB Rock, Nipsey Hussle, Takeoff, Dayvon Daquan Bennett, Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, Janette Becraft, Eddie Graham, Shannon Claire Spruill, Dino Bravo, Lena Marie Nunez-Anaya, Sincere Gaston, Rebecka Ann Carnes, Annabelle Renee Pomeroy, Darius “DJ” Dugas II, Jason Leonard Abbott, Hannah Lassette Magiera Ahlers, Tammy Jo Alexander, Alyssa Miriam Alhadeff, Teresa Carol Allen, Cory Adam Andrewski, Thomas Aquinas Ashton, Charlotte Helen “Char” Bacon, Daniel Gerard “Danny” Barden, Carrie Rae Barnette, and more

[rosiewitchescottage]

Muslim Woman says Britishness needs to Return - Askin the most Muslim pl...

A great example of how many issues can need to be tackled at the same time.

As our host ‘Shay’ said at the start, freedom of religion is important to the British People. We’ve had periods of brutal religious persecution during our history, and we don’t want a repetition of it.

Yes. The Church of England is the ‘official’ religion. But that does NOT mean that no one can practice any other Faith. 

We have many Catholics and other Christian Denominations. We have Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews, Buddhists, Pagans. All free to practice, without risk of being punished for it by the state.

All that’s required is that we practice in keeping with The Law. And that’s fine by me. The Law is one of the things that unites us as British Citizens, regardless of religious and cultural differences.

Katherine Birbalsingh Dr Rakib Ehsan and others talk about Multiculturalism this way too. 

People are free to practice their own faith and culture. But we should all be united by being British Citizens.

And if you’re living here, but don’t want to be a ‘British Citizen’, then one has to wonder what you’re doing here at all.

Shay talks here about a gentleman who came here from India wanting a ‘different life’. But was shocked that our country didn’t look like he was expecting.

We hear a Muslim lady talking about ‘British Values’ needing to return, because the country has changed so much.

Dammit. I’m disgusted to hear about the rise of Anti Muslim Hate since 9/11. That’s an outrage!

Have disagreements and concerns with any religion? Then a British Citizen should be free to express them. 

BUT hating, harassing and abusing people, simply for practicing any particular religion? No, No, No!

No one should be judged for good or bad, simply on account of what religion they practice, or none.

Only HOW we do so, should matter.

 Islamists who want to bring Shariah Law here? We should fight that, all the way.

But the many Muslims just peacefully practicing their faith should be left to do so in safety and with a respect that we have every right to ask to be mutual.

Two young Muslim guys saying that someone asked them if they had bombs inside their jackets.

If that happened, then I’m far from OK with it. 

It’s one thing to challenge someone who is behaving in a suitably dubious manner. 

The guy carrying the bomb at The Manchester Arena was just such a person. There should have been zero qualms about challenging him, but he wasn’t.

Quite another to ask two young men on the street if they’re carrying bombs, just because of their religion.

None of that helps us to deal with the real problems. In fact it hinders it!

There’s ZERO reasons why we can’t support people practicing their own faiths and cultures, within our British Laws.

 Whilst also practicing the religious and cultural traditions that have been part of British Life for centuries, and longer.

If people want to come and share their lives with us here. Then let’s show them British Values to share and be united by, as well as having the freedom to follow their own faith.

That’s a Multiculturalism that I’ll support up to the hilt.

https://rakibehsan.com/diversity-without-shared-values-is-a-recipe-for-disaster-rakib-ehsan-on-the-lessons-from-the-uk/

[tayfabe75]

"Concerts are supposed to be about innocence, and about joy, and about excitement. And what happened just over a year ago in this city was an attempt to steal that innocence, and steal that joy, and steal that excitement, and steal that escape. And ever since then, you have shown such strength and such exuberance. And you've shown that you're never going to let anyone forget about those victims. And you've known that you have such incredible resilience - to keep dancing, and to keep the innocence and to keep the joy and to keep the excitement. I just wanted to say, Manchester, is it such an honor to play for you tonight."

June 8, 2018: During a show in Manchester, England, Taylor pauses to remember those who lost their lives in the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017. (source 1, 2)

[criminol]

Manchester Arena Bombing Victims: Eilidh MacLeod

Eilidh MacLeod was a 14-year-old girl from the Scottish island Barra. Described as a ‘shining light,’ Eilidh was a talented musician with a positive spirit, she loved spending time with her younger sister, Shona.

Eilidh had travelled to Manchester to see Ariana Grande in concert on 22nd May 2017. After spending the day exploring Manchester and shopping, Elidih’s mother dropped her and her friend at the venue and went back to her hotel to wait until the end of the concert when she would collect Eilidh from the show. During the concert, Eilidh video called her mother showing her a view of the stage and the merchandise.

At 10.30, Eilidh and her friend entered the foyer at the end of the show. While Eilidh’s mother waited for her daughter outside the arena she felt the ground shake and heard the noise of an explosion. The noise was a bomb set off at the end of the concert with the intention to kill and wound as many people as possible, Eilidh was just four metres away from the blast. An autopsy revealed multiple injuries and it was determined she could not have survived the attack, a police officer who helped Eilidh’s friend noticed she had already died when help arrived at the scene.

 Eilidh was one of 22 victims who died in the terrorist attack known as the Manchester Arena Bombing. The attacker, Salman Abedi, died in the attack, he had planned to carry out a terror attack with his brother who was jailed for 55 years.