Walking around freely

20 officers must guard the 16-year-old terrorist every day

At just 14 years old, this “terrorist kid” was already making headlines in the *Krone* with his assassination plot. He has already had to answer for it in court twice.(Bild: Kerstin Wassermann)

After plotting an attack in his bedroom, he has already been convicted twice. Now the young ISIS sympathizer has once again been released early from custody and is under constant surveillance.

This explosive case is a prime example of failed deradicalization. Others his age go to school, play soccer, and have their first girlfriend. Not so for this Viennese youth with Turkish roots. At just 14 years old, he first made headlines far beyond Austria’s borders in February 2025 with a foiled attack on Vienna’s Westbahnhof.

Stick figures with machetes
The teenager, who was radicalized via TikTok, apparently has big plans. Seized sketches show the building, as well as stick figures wielding machetes and machine guns, killing passersby and police officers. Another drawing contains instructions for making a bomb. The necessary materials are stored in the basement of the apartment building: aluminum pipes, table legs, and tape. And a flag bearing the Islamic creed.

(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

“I’ll stab anyone who gets in my way”
In a chat with a like-minded ISIS fanatic, he writes: “I’m going to cause a bloodbath and stab anyone who gets in my way.” Convicted on suspicion of terrorism, Can (note: name changed by the editors) was released on probation again last fall.

At just 14 years old, the young terrorist made headlines in the “Krone” with his assassination plot. He has already had to answer for it in court twice.(Bild: Kerstin Wassermann)

“I want to die as a martyr in the path of God”
But only briefly: four weeks later, the handcuffs clicked again. The teenager wanted to buy a 12-centimeter combat knife at an army surplus store. His cousin—while he waited outside the store—managed to do so. Once again, the now 15-year-old stood before the same judge in March of this year. The search history on his confiscated cell phone: knife, nail bomb, pipe bomb, “buy machete,” “buy axe.” “I want to die as a martyr in the path of God. Who wouldn’t want that?” Can said during the trial.

This explosive case involving the terror suspect is an admission of failure by the government when it comes to the safety of Austrians.

FPÖ-Nationalrat Reinhald Maier

Following his second conviction, he is being held at the Klagenfurt Correctional Facility, where he glorifies the Villach attacker. Although the facility’s psychologist warned as early as 2025 that he was “extremely dangerous,” the now 16-year-old will be released early again at the end of August.

It takes 20 officers per day to monitor this ISIS fanatic
The Directorate for State Security and Intelligence (DSN) is also deeply alarmed by his radicalism. While officials speak of “appropriate measures,” the FPÖ reveals that the terrorist-in-the-making, who is currently on the loose, must be monitored practically around the clock. The elite Cobra police unit is on call at all times. This intensive surveillance requires 20 officers per day—a major strain on the law enforcement agency’s already stretched personnel resources.

National Council member Reinhold Maier, deputy FPÖ security spokesperson and a police union representative himself, has therefore leveled fierce criticism: “The judiciary has acted irresponsibly twice in this case—and it’s the police who have to pay the price.”