What Happened Next: The Night The Activist Group Projected Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein on to Windsor Castle
When plans were revealed for Donald Trump’s upcoming official trip, complete with a royal dinner at Windsor on September 17th, 2025, the activist collective known as Led By Donkeys felt compelled to ensure it did not go unprotested. The gesture of rolling out the red carpet was viewed as especially servile. Their next art-activist event proceeded like clockwork.
A Deliberate Message
The group produced a short documentary exploring the connections with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. It concluded: “The commander-in-chief of the United States is alleged to have been a longstanding associate of the nation's most infamous sex offender. He’s alleged to be referenced, numerous times, in the files related to the investigation into that individual … And now that very man, Donald Trump, is sleeping here in Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump maintains he ended his friendship with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s initial legal troubles and repeatedly refuted any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.)
Preparations and Execution
The activists had booked rooms in the nearby Harte and Garter hotel, which boast views of the castle and, even more helpfully, superior castle views, said group founder, Ben Stewart. Their equipment included a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart placed a Bluetooth speaker, concealed inside a cereal box, on top of a public rubbish bin outside.
International press was assembled, staring at the castle, becoming bored awaiting Trump's arrival. Their film, spread rapidly globally. “While photographs of Epstein and Trump went viral online,” Stewart notes, “I doubt that persuades anyone of anything – it just makes Trump uncomfortable. The film we made provides viewers something tangible to share, implying: ‘There’s something significant to examine here.’ It was an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed by millions.”
The Reveal
It started with the official Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto the castle's round tower needs a little bit of mapping,” Stewart states. “So there’s this royal crest. Officers likely thought: ‘Ah, that’s nice – a royal tribute,’ and suddenly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein materializes. A wave of shock passed through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and the police all pile into the hotel.”
Not Their First Protest
It wasn't their inaugural action; it wasn’t even their first effort against Trump. Back in 2018, while working for Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a paraglider near the hotel where the president was staying in Scotland. A year later, police visited him that if he tried again, his safety wasn't assured.
The Arrests
However, the group's creators were not overly concerned about detainment. “All my anxiety goes into ensuring the action to succeed,” says Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “Once the police make the intervention, the message is already out.” The police response was swift, reaching the hotel in under three minutes, “really pumped up”, Knowles recalls. “They were in tactical gear and baseball caps. They’d finally found some protesters. They came roaring up the stairs; they were briefed; tasked to protect the president. Fortunately, no firearms. But they were very adrenalised when they entered the room. I told them: ‘Let’s keep this calm.’”
Delaying multiple police officers for six minutes. It helped that officers were unsure which law to charge anyone. Upon finally entering the room, “one officer began reciting a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another told him to stop because it wasn’t right.” Knowles and three other activists were subsequently detained for malicious communications, a stalking law. “The law is precise: its purpose is to deal with a really concerning offence. To throw it at an act of journalism, projected on to a wall, in defense of the reputation of the president, seemed against the spirit of the legislation,” Stewart remarks pointedly. While the others were detained, he slipped away, then soon after was on a train leaving Windsor, contacting legal counsel.
A Second Arrest and Questioning
Later in the middle of the night, while the activists sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and arrested them again, now for public nuisance, having decided a stronger charge. When they came to be questioned, the only officers available were from the child protection squad – a twist that was not lost on anyone, given the focus of the protest involved Jeffrey Epstein. Knowles and his associates responded to every question with: “I have no comment.” A few minutes into the interview, police presented a photo: “‘Mr Knowles, did you remove the drawer from this nightstand?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Sir, do you know anyone who may have had reason to remove the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I knew what was coming: an image of a large projector, secured to four drawers. Then, the detectives struggled to keep a straight face.”
The Final Result
Just over one month later, every charge was dismissed.