Two People Arrested Over Alleged Lady Gaga Bomb Plot

Brazilian police say they thwarted a bomb attack scheduled to take place at a Lady Gaga concert in Rio de Janeiro over the weekend.

An estimated 2.5 million people attended the free concert at Copacanaba Beach on Saturday, making it the biggest show of Gaga’s career.

A man and a teenager were arrested in connection to the attack only hours before Lady Gaga took to the stage.

The plot had been orchestrated by a group that pretended to be Lady Gaga fans online in order to lure teenagers into “networks with violent and self-destructive content”.

Authorities said that the group had been spreading hate speech against children, adolescents, and the LGBTQIA+ community.

“They were clearly saying that they were planning an attack at Lady Gaga’s concert motivated by sexual orientation,” said Rio police secretary Felipe Cury in a media conference on Sunday.

Police said the two people arrested “were recruiting participants, including minors, to carry out coordinated attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails.”

“Operation Fake Monster” was launched after a tip-off from Rio state police intelligence, with the homes of 15 suspects raided. Authorities confiscated electronic devices such as phone and laptops, but did not find any explosive material.

Cury said one of the suspects whose home was raided “claimed the singer was a Satanist”.

Gaga performed without disruption

In order to avoid panic and stem the spread of misinformation, police didn’t say anything about the possibility of an attack.

A spokesperson for Lady Gaga said her team only learned about the alleged threat through the media the following 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,” they 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.”

Over 5,000 military and police were deployed to the beach in a massive security operation, which included the use of metal detectors, drones, and facial recognition camera.

Lady Gaga is currently on an international tour to promote her eight album, Mayhem. She will be performing in Australia in December this year.