Frankfurt, Germany – A man who managed to drive with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s motorcade onto the tarmac at Frankfurt Airport and hugged the chancellor in a bizarre incident in May 2023 is now facing criminal charges.
The man is accused of endangering road traffic and trespassing, said Dominik Mies, spokesman for the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office, told dpa. The charges have been submitted to the district court in Frankfurt.
The man, driving his personal car, managed to join Scholz’s convoy as it drove toward the airport and pass security checkpoints to drive out onto the tarmac, where a government aircraft was waiting for the chancellor.
The man hopped out of his car and gave Scholz a hug as the politician was about to board the waiting plane.
According to prosecutors, the man was under the strong influence of cocaine at the time and apparently did not know who was travelling in the convoy when he spotted it on the motorway.
He allegedly thought he recognized his cousin in the convoy, because his cousin drives a similar type of vehicle, and said that the cars had seemed “so friendly” to him.
Scholz received the embrace with apparent calm, and later said he never felt threatened.
But the incident received widespread press coverage and prompted scrutiny of the security services tasked with protecting the chancellor.