Brazilian police arrest 2 people over alleged plot targeting Lady Gaga concert in Rio

RIO DE JANEIRO AP Police in Brazil announced on Sunday that two people have been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to detonate explosives at a free Lady Gaga concert in Rio de Janeiro The Rio event on Saturday was the biggest show of the pop star s career that attracted an estimated million fans to Copacabana Beach and had crowds screaming and dancing along Felipe Cury secretary of the Rio police commented administration assumed the persons of interest sought to target Brazil s LGBTQ neighborhood They were clearly saying that they were planning an attack at Lady Gaga s concert motivated by sexual orientation Cury communicated a press conference on Sunday Rio Police chief Luiz Lima declared the group disseminated hate speech and violent content online aimed at gaining notoriety in order to attract more viewers more participants the majority of them teenagers multiple of them children Even as Brazilian administration declared they arrested individuals in the hours before Lady Gaga s show the event went ahead without disruption leading specific to question the seriousness of the threat Serious safety concerns typically lead organizers to cancel such massive events as happened with Taylor Swift s concerts in Vienna last year Police stated declared nothing about the alleged plot at the time to in an effort to avoid panic and the distortion of information A spokesperson for Lady Gaga explained the pop star and her association learned about this alleged threat via media reports this morning Prior to and during the show there were no known safety concerns nor any communication from the police or personnel to Lady Gaga regarding any promising risks The announcement added Her club worked closely with law enforcement throughout the planning and execution of the concert and all parties were confident in the safety measures in place Defense was tight at Saturday s concert with military and police officers deployed to the beach where fans were reveling in the pop singer s classic hits like Born This Way which became something of an LGBTQ anthem after its release Homes in several states raided Officers arrested two people in connection with the alleged plot a man described as the group s leader in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul on illegal weapons possession charges and a teenager in Rio on child pornography charges Police did not elaborate on their exact roles in the plot or on how the group came to target Lady Gaga s free concert Those involved were recruiting participants including teenagers to carry out integrated attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails police declared The Justice Ministry explained that it determined the group posed a peril to masses order It declared the group falsely presented themselves online as Little Monsters Lady Gaga s nickname for her fans in order to lure teeangers into networks with violent and self-destructive content During a series of raids on the homes of persons across several Brazilian states administration confiscated phones and other electronic devices Although police announced they maintained homemade bombs were intended for use in the planned attack there was no mention of the raids turning up any weapons or explosive material Cury explained one of the individuals whose home was raided in the city of Maca near Rio had a religious motivation and claimed the singer Lady Gaga was a Satanist Historical moment Lady Gaga has expressed gratitude for the enormous crowd in an Instagram post that announced nothing of the alleged plot Nothing could prepare me for the feeling I had during last night s show the absolute pride and ecstasy I felt crooning for the people of Brazil she wrote The sight of the crowd during my opening songs took my breath away Your heart shines so bright your civilization is so vibrant and special I hope you know how grateful I am to have shared this historical moment with you Her free beach concert stood out at a time of surging ticket prices for live music around the world as concert-goers pay budget-busting costs to see their favorite artists Last month she performed at Coachella Valley music festival in California where tickets fetched upwards of for one weekend Rio has done this before last May superstar Madonna performed the finale to her latest world tower for chosen million fans on the sprawling sands of Copacabana Beach