Protesters of Israel’s war actions, who set up what they're calling an encampment Monday on the University of Arizona Mall, were prepared to try to stay overnight and to risk arrests, organizers said.

They said they were warned by UA Police of arrests if they stayed past the mall’s formal closing time of 10 p.m.

“We are willing to face whatever consequences,” a student organizer named River, who would not give his last name because he said he feared retaliation, told the Arizona Daily Star Monday afternoon.

A spokesperson for the UA, Mitch Zak, confirmed, “University policy provides that non-academic activity on the mall and across the campus must conclude by 10:30 p.m. The university expects students, staff and campus visitors to adhere to university policies.

“Those who do not disperse when requested will be subject to arrest,” he told the Star Monday afternoon.

“The university is committed to respecting and protecting the free speech rights of our students and the university,” Zak said. “We are monitoring today’s event and are engaging in active conversations with the participants.”

Colleges around the U.S. implored pro-Palestinian student protesters to clear out encampments with rising levels of urgency Monday, the Associated Press reported. Police made more arrests at the University of Texas and Columbia University said it was beginning to suspend students who defied an ultimatum to leave the encampment there by an afternoon deadline.

Crackdowns on encampments led to more than 200 arrests over the weekend, including more than 70 at Arizona State University in Tempe, and others at Washington University in St. Louis, Northeastern in Boston, and Indiana, according to media reports. The ASU protesters were arrested on criminal trespassing charges related to the encampment going on past 11 p.m., a violation of university policy.

The pro-Palestinian protest group at the UA, which at noon Monday stood at around 200 people, set up tents and shaded areas with supplies.

According to a witness, UA Vice President and Chief of Safety Steve Patterson asked students to take the tents down. They obliged.

Zak said late Monday that UA officials dispute the group's use of the word "encampment." "That suggests we are allowing tents which we are not," he said.

Protesters did set up tarps on poles staked in the ground on the mall.  

“From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go,” the group chanted. “Cease fire now.”

Patterson and other UA officials, including Craig Henderson, vice president in the Office of the UA President, stood at the perimeter of the event watching Monday afternoon. Patterson declined to comment.

The protest purposefully coincided with Design Day at the UA, organizers said. Representatives from companies including Raytheon were on campus Monday. Raytheon is one of the companies the group is protesting because of the weapons it makes that are sent to Israel.

The protesters, organized by a group called Students Against Apartheid, is demanding that the university disclose all investments made in Israel and Israeli companies and divest student tuition money from those investments, River said.

According to an X (formerly Twitter) post by the group, they are also seeking a public statement from the university and the Arizona Board of Regents “condemning Israel’s genocidal campaign and calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The group is also demanding that the university defund the UA Police Department and redirect all resources towards “care and justice.”

A small, three-person counter-protest formed to the side as of mid-day, with pro-Israel students holding an Israeli flag. They repeatedly asked, “What about the hostages?” who were taken by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that started the war.

The university’s Hillel, a Jewish student organization, said it was “aware of the attempted encampment” erected at the university.

“We want to reassure you that we have made contact with administration and have been told that it will not remain there overnight,” the organization’s statement said. “With that being said, our building is open to come eat kosher for Passover food and be in community.”

Become a #ThisIsTucson member! Your contribution helps our team bring you stories that keep you connected to the community. Become a member today.

Reporter Ellie Wolfe covers higher education for the Arizona Daily Star and Tucson.com. Contact: ewolfe@tucson.com.