They had planned to perform during the Vienna Pride March. On Sunday, Austrian police said they had arrested three men aged 14, 17 and 20 on suspicion of planning an Islamist attack on Wiener Stolz that took place the previous day.
Who are the three suspects?
The three men, aged 14, 17 and 20, are three Austrians of Chechen and Bosnian origin. They are suspected of being sympathizers with the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS). According to Austrian intelligence chief Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, they were arrested before the parade began. Her home was also searched.
“You shared extremist content online. “In this context, the suspects have targeted the Vienna Rainbow Parade as a potential target,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement. During arrests on Saturday, authorities discovered weapons, firearms and sharp edges, as well as other evidence against the three men.
One of them was already known to the police. They planned to use “bladed weapons or vehicles” during the Pride march, police told reporters.
Increased parade security
The Austrian authorities preferred to wait until Sunday to announce the arrests so as not to alarm the parade participants. However, security measures have been tightened.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the Vienna Pride March was able to “take place quietly and without major incidents”. Around 300,000 people demonstrated for LGBT+ rights.
In November 2020, an IS sympathizer opened fire in central Vienna, killing four people and injuring 23 others before being shot dead by police. It was the first jihadist attack in Austria.