Two Arrested in Plot to Bomb Lady Gaga’s Rio Concert

Brazilian Police said Sunday that two people were arrested who were involved in a plot to set off a bomb at Lady Gaga‘s free concert in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Copacabana Beach, according to AP.

The concert was attended by a record-breaking 2.5 million fans, which is the highest number of attendees ever achieved by a female artist, according to concert organizers.

Local law enforcement said they had collaborated with the Justice Ministry to thwart the attack, which was reportedly planned by a group inciting hate speech toward the LGBTQ community. Brazilian Police said that the group aimed to radicalize and enlist teenagers to execute the attack using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails.

Representatives for Lady Gaga did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.

“The plan was treated as a ‘collective challenge’ with the aim of gaining notoriety on social media,” said local police.

Law enforcement maintains that they arrested two individuals involved in the attack. One of them was the leader of the group, arrested on illegal weapons possession charges in Rio Grande do Sul. The other was a teenager, arrested on charges of child pornography in Rio.

Local authorities said that police went on to raid the locations of 15 more suspects across numerous Brazilian states and seized phones and electronics.

According to the Justice Ministry, those involved with the attack falsely claimed themselves as “Little Monsters,” a nickname for Lady Gaga’s fanbase. This was in order to contact teenagers and indoctrinate them in “networks with violent and self-destructive content.”

Local police said that the arrests were executed with discretion on Saturday in an attempt to avoid “panic or distortion of information among the population.”