American who made social media threats against Taylor Swift was detained

Taylor Swift performs at San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, for her Eras Tour concert, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP, File)

An American man who made threats against Taylor Swift on social media was detained ahead of her first concert in the German city of Gelsenkirchen and will be kept in custody until her shows there are over, police said Thursday.

The suspected stalker, a 34-year-old whose name wasn’t released, had a ticket to Swift’s concert at Gelsenkirchen’s Veltins-Arena on Wednesday, police said in a statement. They said that, because an initial investigation couldn’t entirely rule out a risk, he was detained during entry checks to the event.

Police said the man had made threats against Swift and her partner on social media. They said he had been detained following tips from organizers of the event.

Spectators film with their smartphones during singer Taylor Swift’s concert in the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Thursday, July 18, 2024. German police said Thursday that they detained a suspected stalker ahead of the first of three shows by Taylor Swift in the western city of Gelsenkirchen. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP)

The American superstar has shows in Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as part of her Eras Tour. A local court ordered the suspected stalker kept in detention until Saturday, police said.

They added that there was no danger at any point to Swift or to the audience. Wednesday evening’s concert, attended by about 60,000 people, went peacefully.

Ahead of the concerts, Gelsenkirchen put up signs temporarily renaming itself “Swiftkirchen” and honored the singer on a “Walk of Fame” that commemorates local celebrities.

After Gelsenkirchen, Swift plans concerts in two other German cities, Hamburg and Munich.

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