A bodyguard in Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s security detail was arrested after “behaving erratically” at a hotel in Brussels and fighting with police officers in the Belgian capital, according to reports.
The experienced agent in the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) was cuffed last Monday after becoming irate when staff at the iconic Hotel Amigo refused to reopen the bar after hours, the Washington Examiner reported.
The bodyguard then became physically aggressive when staff, including the hotel night manager, tried to persuade him to return to his room, sources told the outlet.
When police were called, the DSS agent fought with the officers and was arrested.
One of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s assigned bodyguards has been arrested after a drunken brawl in a Brussels hotel. via REUTERSThe agent was released later Monday after an intervention from the US Embassy in Brussels, according to reports.
Rubio stayed in the same hotel later that same week when he visited Belgium for a NATO leaders’ conference, but he was not staying there at the time of the reported incident.
DSS agents are responsible for protecting US diplomats and diplomatic compounds around the world, as well as investigating crimes such as passport and visa fraud.
The reported altercation took place days before Rubio arrived in the Belgian capital for a NATO leaders’ summit. REUTERSState Department employees have alleged that many shift supervisors — which was the role of the arrested agent — 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 source added.
The incident took place at the Hotel Amigo, after staff purportedly refused to reopen the bar. Getty ImagesAn investigation is taking place into what happened at the hotel.
“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 told the Examiner. “While we don’t discuss specific personnel matters, the allegations are being examined.”
Police in Brussels and staff at the Hotel Amigo did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
