What Happened Next: The Night The Activist Group Projected Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein on to Windsor Castle
When the announcement was made for Donald Trump’s second state visit, complete with a royal dinner at Windsor on 17 September 2025, the activist collective known as Led By Donkeys was determined not to let it pass without a statement. The act of rolling out the red carpet was viewed as especially servile. Their next creative protest unfolded with precision.
A Provocative Film
The group produced a short documentary detailing Donald Trump’s relationship with the late financier 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 referenced, repeatedly, in the files related to the criminal probe into Epstein … And now that very man, Donald Trump, is sleeping here within Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump maintains he fell out with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s first arrest and repeatedly refuted any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.)
Preparations and Execution
The group had booked rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with “castle view” and, more crucially, “castle view superior”, according to a co-founder, Ben Stewart. Their equipment included a high-lumen projector. To broadcast sound, Stewart placed a Bluetooth speaker, concealed inside a cereal box, on top of a public rubbish bin outside.
International press had gathered, their gaze fixed at the castle, becoming bored awaiting Trump's arrival. Their film, gained traction globally. “While the still pictures of Epstein and Trump went viral online,” Stewart notes, “I doubt that convinces people of anything – it simply makes Trump uncomfortable. Our documentary gives people a social object to share, saying: ‘This is something significant to examine here.’ It was an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was seen by millions.”
The Reveal
The film began with the official Windsor Castle logo. “It requires the castle's round tower needs some technical calibration,” Stewart explains. “So there’s this royal crest. The police are thinking: ‘How pleasant – the royal family,’ and then abruptly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein appears. This electric jolt passed through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and the police raced into the hotel.”
Not Their First Protest
This was not the group’s first rodeo; nor was it their first effort targeting Trump. Back in 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a paraglider near 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
But, the group's creators weren't especially worried about arrest. “My nervous energy goes into ensuring the protest works,” says Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “By the time the police make the intervention, the message is already out.” Officers was rapid, reaching the hotel within three minutes, highly agitated, Knowles recalls. “They were in tactical gear and caps. They had located the culprits. They charged up the stairs; prepared; tasked to safeguard the guest. Thankfully, no guns. But they were extremely tense when they entered the room. I had to say: ‘Let’s keep this really calm.’”
Stalling multiple police officers for six minutes. The fact that officers were unsure which law to charge anyone. Upon finally entering the room, “a policeman started reading a clause of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another asked him to stop because it wasn’t right.” Knowles and three other activists were subsequently detained for malicious communications, a stalking law. “and it’s very specific: it’s designed to address 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, appeared contrary to the intent of the legislation,” Stewart says archly. While the others were detained, he slipped away, shortly thereafter was on a train leaving Windsor, contacting legal counsel.
A Second Arrest and Questioning
Later that night, while the activists were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and re-arrested them, now for public nuisance, having decided more likely to succeed. When they came to be questioned, the only officers available belonged to the child protection squad – an irony which was palpable, given the focus of the protest concerned Jeffrey Epstein. Knowles and his associates just answered every question with: “No comment.” A few minutes into the interview, police presented a photo: “They asked, did you remove the drawer from this nightstand?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Sir, 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, secured to four drawers. Then, the officers were finding it hard to keep a straight face.”
The Outcome
Just over a month later, all charges was dismissed.
