Clashes between students and police forces broke out on January 31 and February 1 in Saint-Denis, La réunion Island. Some shops in the district of La Chaudron were looted and some vehicles were torched, according to a police source. Anne Mariotti, a reporter at Journal de l’île de la Réunion [1], writes that residents are confused about the causes of the violence [2] [fr]:
L’incompréhension, aussi, parce qu’il ne s’agit pas de magasins de première nécessité! J’ai parlé à la gérante d’un magasin de hi-fi, qui ne comprenait pas: ça n’a plus rien à voir avec une manifestation contre la vie chère.
[Residents] don't understand because the shops that were attacked are not selling staple products. I talked to one audio shop manager who was at loss with the attacks : this has nothing to do with protesting the cost of living anymore.
This infographic shows the statistics on violence in La Réunion Island in the recent years [fr]:
[3]Statistics on violence in La Réunion Island via Insee – Public Domain