A woman accused of flinging yellow paint at a memorial to the Civil War’s famed “Glory Regiment” of African American soldiers began a 20-day mental health evaluation after her arraignment in Boston Municipal Court today.
Quincy resident Rosemine Occean, 38, was charged today with vandalizing an historic marker, and two counts of malicious destruction of property after she allegedly slug yellow paint on the statue of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw in Boston Common.
Officials said that several bystanders, mostly tourists, were also doused with paint.
Occean was ordered to undergo the nearly month-long evaluation with bail of $3,000 upon her return to court later this month.
Boston Police responded to the area of Beacon and Park streets yesterday, the site of the 1897 bronze relief sculpture, for a report of a person who had thrown paint upon it. On arrival, Park Rangers – who had witnessed the incident – directed them to Occean, who was sitting nearby with yellow paint on her face, clothing, and hands. The paint matched fresh stains on the lower surface of the memorial.
Occean allegedly stated after throwing the paint that the sculpture was an “improper depiction of history.”
Officers recovered a quart of yellow Rustoleum paint, a can of yellow Rustoleum spray-paint, a set of keys with yellow paint on them, and a cell phone with yellow paint on it, all belonging to Occean.
Her 2001 Infiniti I30 was towed and seized as evidence.
Park Rangers also notified the officers of a family of five from Little Suamico, Wisconsin, who were present for the incident. Though they fled the scene, Boston Police later made contact with them and learned that two iPads and a Kindle reader they had been carrying were damaged by the wave of paint thrown at the monument. The three children, their mother said, were “devastated” by the incident.
She will return to court on Aug. 21
