Two people are in police custody as Brazilian police say they thwarted a possible attack at Lady Gaga’s concert on Saturday, May 3. Police told the Associated Press the alleged plot was to detonate a bomb at the concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach, which attracted some 2 million fans.
Police said the group associated with the plan was spreading hate speech against the LGBTQ+ community. The plan was to use Molotov cocktails and explosives. “The plan was treated as a ‘collective challenge’ with the aim of gaining notoriety on social media,” the police said.
Police said they arrested the alleged leader of the group on illegal weapons possession charges in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, and a teenager on child pornography charges in Rio. Raids were also conducted around Brazil and several phones were confiscated.
The Justice Ministry tells the AP members of the group falsely presented themselves online as “Little Monsters” — Lady Gaga’s nickname for her fans — in order to reach teenagers and lure them into “networks with violent and self-destructive content.”
Saturday’s concert was reportedly the largest of Lady Gaga’s career.
