Lady Gaga Sets Concert Record As Police Thwart Bomb Attack
Lady Gaga has just set a new record for the highest-attended concert by a female artist! We are also learning new details of an alleged bomb plot targeting that same show.
Gaga’s free concert at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, May 3, attracted a crowd of about 2.1 to 2.5 million people (estimates differ). The previous concert record was set by Madonna one year ago at 1.6 million people.
Gaga wrote a thank you to fans on Sunday on her Instagram, admitting that nothing could have prepared her for the special evening.
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We’ve since learned that same concert was the target of a bomb plot, said the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro. Police said the attackers were plotting against LGBTQ+ people. Lady Gaga is a staunch advocate for the LGBTZ+ community.
Police said they arrested two people who were trying to “recruit” people to carry out coordinated attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails. Police said the goal was “gaining notoriety on social media.”
Police also arrested a third person accused of planning to carry out a “satanist ritual by killing a child or baby” during the concert.
Police said the suspects were part of an online hate group that promotes “the dissemination of hate crimes, self-harm, pedophilia and violent content.”
A spokesperson for Lady Gaga told CNN that there were “no known safety concerns” prior to the concert, adding that they learned of the alleged threat through media reports on Sunday morning.
Police said in a statement that they carried out their operation “with discretion and precision” to avoid panic among concertgoers.
