Pro-Palestinian organizers were handing out supplies to protesters to use in case of potential pepper spray or tear gas use by police, 20 minutes before a deadline to leave a University of Arizona encampment Tuesday night or face arrests.

"Help us build our barricade. Help us be ready to combat the police," an organizer who did not give a name said earlier into a megaphone, about an hour and a half before the 10:30 p.m. curfew.Β 

Law enforcement presence nearby included SWAT trucks and dozens of police officers.

Authorities were prepared to bus protesters to the Pima County jail to be booked if arrested, according to a source who spoke to a member of UA's senior administration Tuesday night.

By 9 p.m. the protesters, led by a group called Students Against Apartheid, had built up their makeshift, tarped enclosures, staked on poles, by adding wood and corrugated metal panels. A full-size couch was also hauled in to the site, near UA's main gate and next to Arizona State Museum.

Early on Tuesday afternoon the protesters brought in fencing, saying they wanted to fence themselves in for protection from "agitators." UA Police told them to remove the fencing and return it to a construction site, which they did with police help.Β 

Earlier Tuesday, the university fenced off grassy portions of the UA Mall, an iconic Tucson green space heavily used by students and other members of the public, and surrounded it with "no trespassing" signs.

A senior administrator at the university told the Arizona Daily Star on Monday night that portions of the mall will be closed through commencement, which is May 10; a spokesperson for the UA did not answer inquiries Tuesday about how long the mall will be closed.

The sun sets on an "encampment" organized by a group called Students Against Apartheid on the University of Arizona campus on Monday night.

The closure came after a daylong "encampment" Monday on the mall by the protesters rallying against Israel's actions in its war with Hamas in Gaza. Day One ended with demonstrators voting to disperse, leave and avoid arrests amid heavy police presence.Β 

β€œUniversity 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. β€œThose who do not disperse when requested will be subject to arrest,” a UA spokesperson, Mitch Zak, said Monday.

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

Protesters of Israel's war actions have set up a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of Arizona Mall, following similar events at Arizona State University and numerous other campuses across the country. Video by Ellie Wolfe

State Sen. Justine Wadsack, a Tucson Republican, arrived at the new protest site briefly Tuesday afternoon to speak to counter-protesters. She refused to take questions from what she called the "lying media" but said she "stands with Israel."

At Columbia University in New York, meanwhile, police cleared 30 to 40 people from inside Hamilton Hall Tuesday night after pro-Palestinian protesters occupied the administration building more than 12 hours earlier, spreading their reach from an encampment elsewhere on the grounds that's been there for nearly two weeks, the Associated Press reported.

The University of Arizona closed portions of its mall Tuesday, posting "no trespassing" signs, after pro-Palestinian protesters set up an "encampment" on Monday.

New York police, wearing helmets and carrying zip ties and riot shields, massed at the Ivy League university’s entrance. Officers breached Hamilton Hall to clear out the structure.

Columbia’s protests earlier in April kicked off solidarity-with-Gaza demonstrations that now span from California to Massachusetts, including at all three of Arizona's public universities.

More than 70 people were arrested at Arizona State University in Tempe over the weekend on criminal trespassing charges related to an encampment staying up past an 11 p.m. curfew.Β 

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