Lady Gaga Concert in Rio Was Target of Foiled Bomb Plot
Online extremists posed as Lady Gaga fans and planned to incite violence against LGBTQ attendees at Saturday's Rio show.
Two people have been arrested in connection with a planned attack at a Lady Gaga concert on Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro.
According to the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, the duo were part of an online hate group that was attempting to “recruit” people to carry out attacks at the May 3 concert by using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails.
The group posed as “Little Monsters,” the name given to fans of Gaga, to recruit additional co-conspirators. Because of this, the police named their plan to thwart the bomb plot “Operation Fake Monster.”
Rio Police Chief Luiz Lima said the online hate group had allegedly planned to gain more viewers and recruit teenagers and children to their cause by posting inflammatory content, including “hate crimes, self-harm, pedophilia, and violent content,” according to The Associated Press.
The alleged leader of the group was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm, while a teenager connected to the thwarted attack was arrested for possession of child pornography.
Felipe Cury, of the Rio police, told news outlets that the suspects had intended for the attack to target LGBTQ people who might be in attendance at the concert.
Gaga has long been an LGBTQ ally and advocate, having previously told revelers at WorldPride NYC in 2019 that she would “take a bullet” for the LGBTQ community.
“They were clearly saying that they were planning an attack at Lady Gaga’s concert motivated by sexual orientation,” Cury said.
Fifteen search and seizure warrants were served against nine targets nationwide as part of a larger sting by law enforcement.
While serving those warrants, authorities confiscated phones and other electronic devices. Although police said they believed homemade bombs were intended for use in the attack on the concert, there were no reports of the raids turning up any incendiary material.
One of those served with a warrant was a man who allegedly planned to carry out a “satanist ritual by killing a child or a baby” during the concert. That man had allegedly claimed that Gaga was a satanist and wanted to “respond in the same way,” according to police. He was eventually arrested and charged with terrorism offenses and inducing crime.
Police said in a statement that they carried out their operation “with discretion and precision” to avoid “panic or distortion of information among the population.”
Specialized Police Chief Andre Neves said that, over the past three weeks, law enforcement authorities have been able to prevent many similar crimes that were planned on the “deep web.”
A spokesman for Lady Gaga told CNN that there were “no known safety concerns” ahead of the superstar’s concert, a free performance held at Rio’s Copacabana beach, which marked Gaga’s first show in Brazil since 2012 and which drew a crowd of over 2 million.
“We learned about this alleged threat via media reports this morning,” the spokesperson said. “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. 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.”
Dani Morera Trettin, a concert-goer, told CNN that he was glad police didn’t tell the public about the possible threats, noting that such news could have led people to panic. He said the fact that the online hate group had wanted to target LGBTQ people “left a bitter taste in my mouth.”
But he also said that Gaga “bringing queer joy to Rio de Janeiro” was an important statement to make “as the world turns more conservative.”
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