2023/06/18
People take part in the opening of the 27th "Rainbow Parade" at City Hall Square.
Eva Manhart/APA/dpa
A potential plot to attack Vienna's annual gay pride parade on Saturday was foiled and three suspects were arrested, an Austrian security service said on Sunday.
Three young men - aged 14, 17 and 20 - were accused by the head of the Directorate General for Public Security of being Islamic State sympathizers.
Omar Haijawi-Pirchner said the suspects had taken predatory steps to attack the "Rainbow Parade" in the Austrian capital but there was never any threat to the public because the trio had been under long-term and constant surveillance by law enforcement.
The arrests were made before the parade kicked off.
Extensive evidence was secured during house searches on Saturday. According to Haijawi-Pirchner, sabres, an axe, gas pistols, throwing stars and knives were found.
Saturday's parade was the culmination of a week of events to celebrate the LGBTQ community and demand equal rights. More than 300,000 people were in attendance.
A potential plot to attack Vienna's annual gay pride parade on Saturday was foiled and three suspects were arrested, an Austrian security service said on Sunday.
Three young men - aged 14, 17 and 20 - were accused by the head of the Directorate General for Public Security of being Islamic State sympathizers.
Omar Haijawi-Pirchner said the suspects had taken predatory steps to attack the "Rainbow Parade" in the Austrian capital but there was never any threat to the public because the trio had been under long-term and constant surveillance by law enforcement.
The arrests were made before the parade kicked off.
Extensive evidence was secured during house searches on Saturday. According to Haijawi-Pirchner, sabres, an axe, gas pistols, throwing stars and knives were found.
Saturday's parade was the culmination of a week of events to celebrate the LGBTQ community and demand equal rights. More than 300,000 people were in attendance.
People take part in the opening of the 27th "Rainbow Parade" at City Hall Square.
Eva Manhart/APA/dpa
© Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
© Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
Austria foils pride parade attack, officials say
People celebrate LGBTQ rights at the annual pride parade in Vienna on Saturday.
| REUTERS
AFP-JIJI
Jun 18, 2023
VIENNA – Austrian police have arrested three youngsters, including a 14-year-old, for allegedly planning an attack at Vienna’s pride parade, which drew hundreds of thousands of people, officials said Sunday.
Themen BOYS aged 14, 17 and 20 and suspected of being Islamic State sympathizers were held ahead of the parade, according to domestic intelligence agency (DSN) chief Omar Haijawi-Pirchner.
He told reporters that there was “never any threat” to those who participated in the Pride Parade in central Vienna on Saturday.
“They sympathized with the Islamic State online and shared extremist content. In this context, the suspects focused on the Pride Parade as a potential target for an attack,” the interior ministry said in a press release.
During raids on two premises on Saturday, authorities discovered weapons and other evidence against the three Austrians with Bosnian and Chechen roots.
One of them was already previously known to police. They had planned to use “knives or vehicles” in the attack, police told reporters.
Some 300,000 took part in the parade for LGBTQ rights.
In November 2020, a convicted Islamic State group sympathizer went on a shooting rampage in downtown Vienna, killing four and wounding 23 others before police shot him dead.
It marked the Alpine nation’s first deadly jihadi attack.
Earlier this year, a Vienna court sentenced two alleged accomplices of the gunman to life in prison, while two others received prison terms of 19 and 20 years.
AFP-JIJI
Jun 18, 2023
VIENNA – Austrian police have arrested three youngsters, including a 14-year-old, for allegedly planning an attack at Vienna’s pride parade, which drew hundreds of thousands of people, officials said Sunday.
The
He told reporters that there was “never any threat” to those who participated in the Pride Parade in central Vienna on Saturday.
“They sympathized with the Islamic State online and shared extremist content. In this context, the suspects focused on the Pride Parade as a potential target for an attack,” the interior ministry said in a press release.
During raids on two premises on Saturday, authorities discovered weapons and other evidence against the three Austrians with Bosnian and Chechen roots.
One of them was already previously known to police. They had planned to use “knives or vehicles” in the attack, police told reporters.
Some 300,000 took part in the parade for LGBTQ rights.
In November 2020, a convicted Islamic State group sympathizer went on a shooting rampage in downtown Vienna, killing four and wounding 23 others before police shot him dead.
It marked the Alpine nation’s first deadly jihadi attack.
Earlier this year, a Vienna court sentenced two alleged accomplices of the gunman to life in prison, while two others received prison terms of 19 and 20 years.
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