EXCLUSIVE — A Diplomatic Security Service shift supervisor assigned to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s protective detail was arrested by Belgian police at a Brussels hotel last Monday after arguing with hotel staff and fighting with responding police officers. Later that week, Rubio stayed in the same place, Hotel Amigo, while attending NATO’s foreign ministers meeting.
The DSS veteran, whose name the Washington Examiner is withholding, was a senior agent on the DSS advance party to Belgium. That protective advance party was responsible for securing the hotel and conducting final security preparations at the various sites in Brussels for Rubio’s visit.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told the Washington Examiner that the agent in question was behaving erratically and became irate when hotel staff refused to reopen the bar beyond its normal hours. When staff, including the night manager, attempted to persuade the agent to return to his room, the agent became physically aggressive. Police were then called. The agent engaged in an altercation with numerous police officers, leading to his arrest. The agent was released from police custody later that day after intervention by the U.S. Embassy.
Four sources told the Washington Examiner that Rubio’s protective detail is under severe strain and has been stretched to a near-breaking point by senior leadership. One source provided explicit examples of how resource stretches have led to vulnerabilities in protection. One State Department employee observed that “shift supervisors [on Rubio’s detail] have an incomprehensible workload. 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 6 to 7 days a week. I truly believe this [incident] was the result of incomprehensible strain [the agent] was placed under and, at the very least, [Diplomatic Security Service] owes [the agent] a very fair evaluation of these circumstances in their totality – looking deep into [DSS’s] own role [in what happened].”
A State Department spokesman told the Washington Examiner, “The Diplomatic Security Service is aware of allegations of an incident involving an employee in Brussels, Belgium on March 31, 2025. While we don’t discuss specific personnel matters, the allegations are being examined.” The Belgian Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not respond to a request for comment. Brussels police initially said, “Are you requesting confirmation of the arrest? Please note that we cannot provide details about the circumstances,” but failed to respond to follow-up inquiries. The Hotel Amigo and its ownership did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
DSS is responsible for protecting American diplomats and diplomatic compounds around the world and investigating crimes such as passport and visa fraud. But while once regarded as a highly prestigious law enforcement agency, DSS has suffered several embarrassments in recent years.
As the Washington Examiner has reported, these incidents have included numerous leadership failures. Field operations have also suffered. In December 2022, agents assigned to a full-time protective detail for former Trump administration U.S. Special Representative to Iran Brian Hook failed to prevent the theft of two of his vehicles from his driveway. One of those vehicles was later used in a homicide in Washington, D.C. Four active or recently retired DSS employees have told the Washington Examiner they believe one problem is the tendency of more senior agents to refuse to join or support “hump agent” domestic protective details alongside more junior agents. Last November, DSS agents on a protection detail for U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy were instrumental in detaining a serial killer in New York City. The agents responsible felt let down when leadership failed to give them due credit.
Further, unlike local U.S. law enforcement agencies supporting security at last summer’s Paris Olympic Games, DSS failed to secure authorization for its agents protecting American athletes at the Games to carry firearms. DSS has also attracted controversy for expensive diversity, equity, and inclusion-related trips under former DSS Director Carlos Matus. Matus now serves as DSS’s senior-most official as the acting assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security. Correspondence seen by the Washington Examiner and conversations with both active and former DSS agents indicate that Matus has repeatedly failed to clarify for DSS personnel how their jobs and responsibilities may be affected by Trump administration policy changes. This includes a failure to respond regarding specific concerns raised by the DSS president for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.
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There is no indication that the incident on Monday caused Rubio’s security to be compromised.
Still, it has reinforced sentiments inside and outside of DSS that it is only a matter of time until a protective mission failure occurs.
