What Happened Next: The Evening The Activist Group Projected Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein on to Windsor Castle
When plans were revealed for the former president's upcoming official trip, complete with a Windsor Castle banquet on September 17th, 2025, the protest group known as Led By Donkeys was determined to ensure it did not go without a statement. The gesture of offering a lavish welcome seemed especially servile. Their next creative protest proceeded like clockwork.
A Deliberate Message
Activists created a nine-minute film 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 America’s most notorious child sex trafficker. He’s alleged to be referenced, repeatedly, in the files from the investigation into that individual … And now that president, Donald Trump, is sleeping here in Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump has stated he fell out with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s initial legal troubles and repeatedly refuted any wrongdoing concerning Epstein.)
Preparations and Execution
The group had booked rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, which boast views of the castle and, even more helpfully, superior castle views, according to a co-founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a powerful projector. To broadcast sound, 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, growing restless as Trump was delayed. Their film, gained traction everywhere. “Although photographs of Epstein and Trump went viral online,” Stewart says, “I doubt that persuades anyone of anything – it just makes Trump uneasy. Our documentary provides viewers something tangible to share, implying: ‘There’s something really serious to look at here.’ It was an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed 20m times.”
The Moment of Projection
The film began with the official Windsor Castle logo. “It requires a cylindrical building needs a little bit of mapping,” Stewart explains. “First appeared the royal coat of arms. Officers likely thought: ‘How pleasant – the royal family,’ and suddenly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein appears. This electric jolt passed through the officers nearby, and the police all pile into the hotel.”
A History of Activism
It wasn't their inaugural action; nor was it their first action against Trump. Back in 2018, while working for Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a paraglider over the hotel where the then-president was staying in Scotland. The following year, officers warned him that if he tried again, they couldn’t guarantee.
The Arrests
However, the group's creators weren't especially worried about detainment. “All my anxiety goes into ensuring the action to succeed,” says Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “By the time the police arrive, the message is already out.” The police response was swift, reaching the hotel in under three minutes, “really pumped up”, Knowles recalls. “Wearing tactical gear and caps. They’d finally found the culprits. They came roaring up the stairs; prepared; they were on a mission to protect the president. Fortunately, no guns. But they were very adrenalised upon entering the room. I told them: ‘Let’s keep this calm.’”
Delaying multiple police officers for six minutes. It helped that they were unsure which law to make arrests. When they finally entered the room, “one officer started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, which another officer asked him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three additional activists were then arrested for malicious communication, a stalking law. “The law is precise: it’s designed to address a really concerning offence. To throw it at a piece 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. As his colleagues were arrested, he slipped away, shortly thereafter boarded a train leaving Windsor, contacting legal counsel.
An Ironic Interrogation
Some time in the middle of the night, as the detainees sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and arrested them again, now for public nuisance, having decided more likely to succeed. When they came to be questioned, the sole available interrogators were from the child protection squad – an irony that was not lost on anyone, given the focus of the protest concerned Jeffrey Epstein. Knowles and his associates just answered every question with: “I have no comment.” A few minutes into the interview, the officers slid over a photograph: “They asked, did you take the drawer from this bedside table?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Mr Knowles, do you know anybody else who may have had cause to take the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I anticipated what was coming: an image of a large projector, secured to four drawers. At that point, the detectives were finding it hard to maintain their composure.”
The Outcome
A little more than one month later, all charges was dismissed.
