Overview

• The incident occurred Sunday at 11:40 a.m. when two male participants kissed a duty-assigned policewoman on both cheeks without her consent during the Hannover Schützenausmarsch.
• Later that day, officers stopped the 33- and 43-year-old suspects, recorded their identities and noted their refusal to take a breathalyzer test before releasing them.
• On July 8, Hannover Police formally opened criminal sexual harassment proceedings against both men, who remain free pending further action.
• The Hildesheimer Junggesellenkompanie, the local shooting club representing the suspects, defended the gesture as a long-standing festival custom.
• Authorities say no other cases of sexual harassment have been reported at this year’s or past Schützenausmärsche, marking the incident as unprecedented.