A bodyguard in Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s security detail was reportedly arrested last week. The experienced agent in the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) was accused of “behaving erratically” at a hotel in Brussels and fighting with police officers in the Belgian capital.
The bodyguard was cuffed last Monday after he became irate when staff at the Hotel Amigo said they would not reopen the bar after hours, the Washington Examiner reported. The DSS agent allegedly became physically aggressive when hotel staff, including the night manager, urged him to go back to his room. Cops had to be called, and the bodyguard was arrested after he began fighting with the officers. However, he was released later the same day after the US Embassy in Brussels intervened.
Rubio was not staying at the hotel at the time of the alleged incident. However, later that same week, he stayed at the same hotel while visiting Belgium for a NATO leaders’ conference.
DSS agents are tasked with protecting US diplomats and diplomatic compounds around the world. They are also responsible for investigating crimes such as passport and visa fraud.
‘Shift supervisors [on Rubio’s detail] have an incomprehensible workload’
{{/usCountry}}DSS agents are tasked with protecting US diplomats and diplomatic compounds around the world. They are also responsible for investigating crimes such as passport and visa fraud.
‘Shift supervisors [on Rubio’s detail] have an incomprehensible workload’
{{/usCountry}}State Department employees have claimed that many shift supervisors, which was the role of the bodyguard who was arrested, are extremely stretched. “Shift supervisors [on Rubio’s detail] have an incomprehensible workload,” one source told the Washington Examiner. “They are responsible for all the agents under them, scheduling, evaluations and a preposterous amount of admin work [as well as] performing the actual shift work.”
“They work six to seven days a week. I truly believe this was the result of incomprehensible strain [the agent] was placed under and, at the very least, [the DSS] owes [them] a very fair evaluation of these circumstances in their totality,” the insider added.
An investigation into the incident at the hotel is underway. “The Diplomatic Security Service is aware of allegations of an incident involving an employee in Brussels, Belgium, on March 31, 2025,” a State Department spokesman said. “While we don’t discuss specific personnel matters, the allegations are being examined.”