FDNY rookie and Navy vet hazed by Queens firefighters for his race, PTSD: suit

Queens firefighters hazed a rookie colleague for being Hispanic and suffering from PTSD after his time in the U.S. Navy, a lawsuit alleges.

Joseph Mendoza, who is of Peruvian descent, claims racist smoke-eaters at Engine 297/Ladder 130 in College Point called him a “spic” and “Columbian drug lord.” One colleague nicknamed him “Machete,” after actor Danny Trejo’s Mexican-assassin film character, according to Mendoza’s Brooklyn federal court lawsuit.