On Friday 2 October 2026, outside the Roland-Garros lycée in Le Tampon (La Réunion), a student is arrested during the student mobilisation, according to Le Quotidien de La Réunion, which speaks of a “strike at the lycée” (translated). Imaz Press places the scene “on the sidelines of the student mobilisation” (translated).
An 18-second video, filmed on a phone from the pavement and relayed on 5 October by the X account Mandat Media, shows the young person face down on a pedestrian crossing, at the edge of a roundabout lined with green bollards. A kneeling officer holds him to the ground, joined by a second officer who leans over his head; other officers, some in vests marked “POLICE”, pass around them. Le Quotidien publishes a screenshot of the same scene. Mandat Media placed the scene “this Monday” (translated); Le Quotidien, which questioned the public prosecutor’s office, dates it to the Friday.
On 5 October, the Union des femmes réunionnaises (UFR) denounces in a statement an arrest “of unacceptable violence” (translated): the young person, “pinned to the ground, face down, held by several police officers” (translated), was not struggling when an officer reportedly pressed his knee on his neck. It demands “immediate explanations from the authorities and from the education authority (rectorat)” (translated) and an administrative investigation.
The same day, the public prosecutor of Saint-Pierre confirms to Le Quotidien the opening of a criminal investigation, entrusted to the gendarmerie’s research section, which is in particular to hear the witnesses of the scene quickly. Imaz Press also reports the opening of this investigation.
Neither the student’s state of health, nor the reason for his arrest, nor law enforcement’s version is reported at this stage.
What remains to be established
- The reason for the arrest and law enforcement’s version.
- The student’s state of health.
- What the investigation will establish about the position of the knee.
- Read on 2026-10-05: Le Quotidien, Imaz Press, Radio Freedom, Témoignages, the Réunion La 1ère home page (nothing on the scene). Not read: Zinfos 974 (article on the investigation, refused to the VPS), Clicanoo and Linfo.re (refused to the VPS).