What Happened Next: The Night The Activist Group Beamed Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle
When the announcement was made for Donald Trump’s second state visit, complete with a royal dinner at Windsor on September 17th, 2025, the activist collective known as Led By Donkeys was determined not to let it pass unprotested. The act of rolling out the red carpet seemed particularly craven. Their subsequent creative protest unfolded like clockwork.
A Provocative Film
The group produced a short documentary detailing the connections with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. It concluded: “The commander-in-chief of the United States was a longstanding associate of America’s most notorious sex offender. His name is said to be mentioned, numerous times, in the files related to the investigation into that individual … Now that president, Donald Trump, is a guest within Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump has stated he fell out with Epstein years before Epstein’s initial legal troubles and has consistently denied all allegations concerning Epstein.)
Preparations and Execution
The group had secured rooms in the nearby Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with “castle view” and, more crucially, superior castle views, said a co-founder, Ben Stewart. Their equipment included a powerful projector. To broadcast sound, Stewart positioned a wireless speaker, concealed inside a cereal box, atop a garbage can outside.
International press had gathered, staring at the castle, growing restless as Trump was delayed. The film, however, gained traction globally. “Although photographs of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart notes, “I doubt that persuades anyone of anything – it simply makes Trump uneasy. The film we made provides viewers a social object to share, implying: ‘There’s something significant to look at here.’ We took an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed by millions.”
The Moment of Projection
The film began with the official Windsor Castle logo. “It requires the castle's round tower needs a little bit of mapping,” Stewart states. “So there’s the royal coat of arms. The police are thinking: ‘How pleasant – a royal tribute,’ and then abruptly a great big picture of Jeffrey Epstein appears. A wave of shock passed through the officers around me, and the police all pile into the hotel.”
Not Their First Protest
This was not their inaugural action; nor was it their first action 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 any repeat, they couldn’t guarantee.
The Arrests
However, the activists weren't overly concerned about arrest. “All my anxiety is channelled into wanting the protest works,” says Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “Once the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” The police response was rapid, reaching the hotel in under three minutes, highly agitated, Knowles recalls. “Wearing jumpsuits and caps. They had located some protesters. They came roaring up the stairs; prepared; they were on a mission to safeguard the guest. Thankfully, no firearms. But they were extremely tense upon entering the room. I had to say: ‘We should keep this calm.’”
Delaying multiple police officers is a long time. It helped that they didn’t know under what law to make arrests. Upon finally entering the room, “one officer started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, which another officer asked him to stop because it wasn’t right.” Knowles and three additional team members were subsequently detained for malicious communications, a law related to harassment. “and it’s very specific: it’s designed to deal with a really concerning offence. Applying it to an act of journalism, projected on to a wall, to protect the reputation of the president, seemed contrary to the intent of the legislation,” Stewart remarks pointedly. As his colleagues were arrested, he melted into the crowd, shortly thereafter boarded a train leaving Windsor, calling lawyers.
A Second Arrest and Questioning
Some time that night, while the activists sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and re-arrested them, now for causing a public nuisance, having decided a stronger charge. When they came to be questioned, the only officers available belonged to the child protection squad – a twist which was palpable, given the focus of the protest concerned alleged sex offender. The activists responded to every question with: “No comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, police presented a photograph: “They asked, did you take the drawer from this nightstand?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Mr Knowles, do you know anybody else who may have had cause to take the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I knew the next move: a picture of a large projector, ratchet-strapped to several drawers. At that point, the officers struggled to maintain their composure.”
The Outcome
Just over a month later, every charge was dismissed.
