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Police in Austria prevent attack at annual Pride parade; 3 arrested

Police said the suspects, ages 14, 17, and 20, were radicalized online, adopting views sympathetic to ISIS.
Police in Austria prevent attack at annual Pride parade; 3 arrested
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Police in Austria said they arrested three suspected Islamic extremists who allegedly planned to attack the annual Pride parade in Vienna. 

Police said the three suspects — ages 14, 17, and 20 — were radicalized online, adopting views sympathetic to ISIS. 

Authorities were alerted to the plot and arrested them ahead of Saturday's parade. They also seized banned weapons.

Omar Haijawi-Pirchner from the State Protection and Intelligence Directorate said there was no longer a threat to the public, according to the Associated Press. He said the suspects were Austrian citizens of Bosnian and Chechen origin, and one had already been known to police.

The Austrian Chancellor spoke out on Twitter, saying extremism "has no place in our society and wants to destroy our peaceful coexistence."

He thanked investigators for preventing the attack, saying extremists are "threats to our democracy and security."


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