What Happened Next: The Night The Activist Group Beamed Images of Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle
When plans were revealed for the former president's upcoming official trip, including a Windsor Castle banquet on 17 September 2025, the activist collective known as Led By Donkeys felt compelled to ensure it did not go without a statement. The act of rolling out the red carpet was viewed as especially servile. Their next art-activist event unfolded like clockwork.
A Provocative Film
Activists created a nine-minute film exploring Donald Trump’s relationship with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. It concluded: “The president of the United States is alleged to have been a longstanding associate of America’s most notorious sex offender. His name is said to be mentioned, repeatedly, in documents from the investigation into that individual … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest within Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump has stated he ended his friendship with Epstein years before Epstein’s first arrest and has consistently denied any wrongdoing concerning Epstein.)
Preparations and Execution
The group had booked rooms in the nearby Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with “castle view” and, even more helpfully, “castle view superior”, according to group founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart placed a wireless speaker, hidden inside a cereal box, atop a public rubbish bin outside.
The world’s media was assembled, their gaze fixed at the castle, becoming bored awaiting Trump's arrival. The film, however, gained traction globally. “While the still pictures of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart notes, “I doubt that convinces people of anything – it just makes Trump uncomfortable. Our documentary gives people something tangible to share, saying: ‘There’s something really serious to look at here.’ It was an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed by millions.”
The Moment of Projection
It started with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto the castle's round tower needs some technical calibration,” Stewart states. “First appeared the royal coat of arms. The police likely thought: ‘How pleasant – the royal family,’ and suddenly a great big picture of Jeffrey Epstein appears. A wave of shock passed through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and they raced into the hotel.”
Not Their First Protest
This was not the group’s first rodeo; it wasn’t even their first action targeting Trump. In 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a motorized paraglider over the resort where the then-president was staying in Scotland. The following year, police visited him that if he tried again, they couldn’t guarantee.
The Arrests
However, the group's creators were not especially worried about arrest. “All my anxiety is channelled into ensuring the action to succeed,” says Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “By the time the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” Officers was swift, arriving in the lobby in under three minutes, “really pumped up”, he remembers. “They were in tactical gear and caps. They’d finally found the culprits. They came roaring up the stairs; prepared; tasked to protect the president. Thankfully, no guns. But they were extremely tense upon entering the room. I told them: ‘We should keep this calm.’”
Stalling a large number of police officers for six minutes. It helped that officers didn’t know which law to make arrests. When they finally entered the room, “one officer began reciting a clause of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another told him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three other activists were subsequently detained for malicious communication, a law related to harassment. “and it’s very specific: it’s designed to deal with a serious offence. To throw it at a piece of journalism, projected on to a wall, in defense of the reputation of the president, seemed contrary to the intent of the legislation,” Stewart says archly. As his colleagues were arrested, he slipped away, shortly thereafter was on a train leaving Windsor, calling lawyers.
An Ironic Interrogation
Later in the middle of the night, as the detainees were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and re-arrested them, this time for causing a public nuisance, deeming it more likely to succeed. During interrogation, the sole available interrogators were from the child protection unit – an irony which was palpable, given the subject matter of the protest concerned Jeffrey Epstein. The activists responded to every question with: “No comment.” A few minutes into the interview, the officers slid over a photograph: “They asked, did you remove the drawer from this nightstand?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Sir, do you know anybody else who may have had reason to remove the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I anticipated what was coming: an image of a giant projector, secured to four drawers. At that point, the officers were finding it hard to maintain their composure.”
The Final Result
Just over a month later, every charge were dropped.
