TUCSON – Her boss in Homeland Security pointed a rifle at her head, humiliated her by putting a “fart machine” under her desk, called her old, fat and ugly, and insulted her mother, Lorraine Simental says in Federal Court. She claims the behavior by defendant Richard Hill was part of a pattern of racial and sexual abuse in Arizona offices of the Department of Homeland Security. Simental claims Hill targeted her for abuse because she is of Mexican ancestry, and a woman, that he referred to her daughter as a “half breed” because Simental was married to an Anglo, and that Hill frequently referred to “stupid fucking Mexicans.” She claims that while others were in the officer, Hill often triggered a remote-control “fart machine” he had hidden under her desk. The abuse culminated in July 2003 when she says Hill, carrying a seized AK-47, and another DHS employee who also had a semi-automatic weapon, taunted her, “chanting like Arabs” while she worked. In a mirrored surface on a filing cabinet, she saw Hill pointing the rifle at her head, she claims. He laughed and said, “Remember the Arabs,” then both men raised their guns just before someone else walked into the room, the suit states. Simental said she tried to report this harassment, but was rebuffed by defendant Robert Gattison, a supervising DHS agent she says is known for his intimidating behavior. After persistent complaints, Simental was transferred from the DHS Sierra Vista office to Douglas, Ariz. Represented by Jim Calle, she seeks back pay and damages for harassment, retaliation and assault.