A bodyguard from Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s security detail was arrested after “behaving erratically” at a Brussels hotel and battling with police officers in the Belgian city.
The experienced Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent was handcuffed last Monday after becoming enraged when employees at the renowned Hotel Amigo refused to reopen the bar after hours.
According to sources, the bodyguard became physically hostile when personnel, including the hotel’s night manager, attempted to encourage him to return to his room.
The DSS agent fought with the police after they called for help, leading to his arrest, the New York Post reported.
The agent was released later Monday following an intervention by the US Embassy in Brussels, according to sources.
Rubio stayed in the same hotel later that week when he visited Belgium for a NATO leaders’ meeting, but he was not present at the time of the claimed event.
DSS agents are responsible for securing US diplomats and diplomatic facilities around the world, as well as investigating offenses including passport and visa fraud.
According to State Department personnel, many shift supervisors, including the arrested agent, are overworked.
“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.
An 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.”
Rubio made headlines last week when he announced the United States will immediately revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders and halt the issuance of new ones.
Rubio cited the move as a response to “the failure of South Sudan’s transitional government to accept the return of its repatriated citizens in a timely manner,” according to a statement posted on X.
In a separate statement, the U.S. Department of State said it is time for South Sudan’s transitional government to “stop taking advantage” of the United States.
“Enforcing our nation’s immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States,” according to the statement. “Every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country, including the United States, seeks to remove them. ”
The department said it “will be prepared to review these actions when South Sudan is in full cooperation.”
The East African nation is teetering on the brink of civil war amid intensifying armed conflict, widespread displacement, and a worsening food crisis, Fox News reported on Saturday.
During the Democratic Biden-Harris administration, policies put in place allowed millions of people into the country from all over the world, most often without proper vetting. And Democrats largely remain opposed to the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.
Earlier, on April 22, 2023, the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, suspended operations, including visa processing, passport services, and other routine consular functions. This latest move follows the Trump administration’s February decision to end deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans living in the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced plans to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 300,000 foreign nationals.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has deported more than 100,000 undocumented migrants, according to a New York Post report citing a DHS official.
“Sources said it shows that Trump is keeping his promise to boot illegal migrants, alleged gangbangers and suspected terrorists from the United States,” The Post reported. “He’s doing what he was voted in to do. Point blank!” an ICE source told The Post.
It remains unclear how many of the detainees are convicted criminals, the current status of their cases, or their countries of origin—though sources indicate the majority are being deported to Mexico.