(UPDATE) Satanists behind Lady Gaga Terror Plot?
Now for something completely different.
Updates are at the bottom of the article:
According to multiple press reports, Brazilian law enforcement officials detained two individuals who are part of an unidentified group that planned to use improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and Molotov cocktails to target children, adolescents, and those who support the LGBTQIA+ community at a Lady Gaga concert in Brazil.
Last year, the Central Intelligence Agency helped provide intelligence that prevented an ISIS-inspired group from conducting attacks at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna.
Updates:
According to the New York Times:
The group’s leader was arrested in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul for illegal possession of a firearm, and a teenager was arrested for storing child pornography, the police said in the announcement. It was not immediately clear if either person had been charged.
According to the Associated Press:
“They were clearly saying that they were planning an attack at Lady Gaga’s concert motivated by sexual orientation,” Cury told a press conference on Sunday.
Rio Police Chief Luiz Lima said the group disseminated hate speech and violent content online “aimed at gaining notoriety in order to attract more viewers, more participants — most of them teenagers, many of them children.”
will be monitoring the latest as the story develops. We congratulate Brazilian authorities on their arrests.Unidentified people were “virtually recruiting participants to carry out attacks” using improvised explosive devices, the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police said. The perpetrators planned to gain notoriety on social networks through the bombing, authorities said.
The person accused of being responsible for the plan is in custody, and a teenager has been detained in connection with the matter, police said.
Brazil's Ministry of Justice and Public Security alleged in a statement that the plot was organized by a larger extremist network that operates online to radicalize adolescents and provoke hate crimes.
It's unclear when authorities found out about the threat.
The civil police intelligence unit was first alerted to the scheme, and search and seizure warrants were obtained for multiple areas in Brazil, police said.
A spokesperson for Lady Gaga said her team learned about the alleged threat through media reports Sunday morning.
“Prior to and during the show, there were no known safety concerns, nor any communication from the police or authorities to Lady Gaga regarding any potential risks,” the spokesperson said. “Her team worked closely with law enforcement throughout the planning and execution of the concert and all parties were confident in the safety measures in place.”
Update 6 May 1027:
Two people arrested on suspicion of planning an attack at a Lady Gaga concert in Rio de Janeiro were targeting LGBTQ+ people, police said on Sunday.
According to the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, the pair had attempted to “recruit” people, including teenagers, to carry out coordinated attacks at Saturday’s concert, using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails. The goal of the planned attack, according to police, was “gaining notoriety on social media.”
Meanwhile, in a separate development following police searches at nine addresses across Brazil, a third person who allegedly planned to carry out a “satanist ritual by killing a child or a baby” during the concert was charged with terrorism offenses, according to Brazilian police.
We at
have never faced off with Satanists. And at this point, all we can do is poke fun at the utter insanity of the world we live in.