A senior bodyguard assigned to US secretary of state Marco Rubio’s security team was arrested in Brussels after a late-night altercation with hotel staff and police.
The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent, who served as a shift supervisor, was taken into custody on March 31 after “behaving erratically” at the Hotel Amigo, according to the New York Post.
The incident occurred when the veteran agent, part of Rubio’s advance team for his Nato trip, allegedly became irate after hotel staff declined his request to reopen the bar after hours.
According to The Brussels Times, the situation escalated when staff attempted to de-escalate tensions and guide him back to his room, prompting the agent to become physically aggressive.
Police were called, and the agent reportedly resisted, leading to a physical altercation with officers before being arrested. He was later released the same day following intervention by the US Embassy in Belgium, reported The Hill.
Rubio was not at the hotel during the incident, but stayed there later in the week while attending a Nato foreign ministers’ meeting. The DSS, the state department’s security arm tasked with protecting US diplomats and investigating transnational crimes, confirmed it is aware of the incident.
“While we don’t discuss specific personnel matters, the allegations are being examined,” a state department spokesperson said in a statement as quoted by The Hill.
Sources cited by the Washington Examiner suggested that extreme workload pressures may have contributed to the agent’s behaviour. “Shift supervisors on Rubio’s detail have an incomprehensible workload… They work six to seven days a week,” one source said, adding that DSS leadership owed the agent a fair evaluation given the stress.
