The Aftermath: The Evening The Activist Group Projected Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle
When the announcement was made for Donald Trump’s upcoming official trip, including a royal dinner at Windsor on 17 September 2025, the protest group known as Led By Donkeys felt compelled not to let it pass unprotested. The gesture of rolling out the red carpet was viewed as especially servile. Their next art-activist event unfolded like clockwork.
A Provocative Film
The group produced 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 child sex trafficker. His name is said to be referenced, repeatedly, in documents related to the investigation into Epstein … And now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest within Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump maintains he ended his friendship with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s first arrest and has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.)
The Setup
The group had booked rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, which boast “castle view” and, more crucially, “castle view superior”, said group founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a high-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart placed a Bluetooth speaker, concealed inside a cereal box, atop a public rubbish bin outside.
International press was assembled, their gaze fixed at the castle, becoming bored as Trump was delayed. Their film, spread rapidly globally. “While photographs of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart notes, “I doubt that convinces people of anything – it simply makes Trump uneasy. Our documentary gives people a social object to share, implying: ‘There’s something really serious 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
It started with the official Windsor Castle logo. “It requires a cylindrical building needs some technical calibration,” Stewart explains. “First appeared this royal crest. The police likely thought: ‘Ah, that’s nice – a royal tribute,’ and then abruptly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein appears. This electric jolt goes through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and the police all pile into the hotel.”
A History of Activism
This was not their inaugural action; nor was it their first action targeting Trump. Back in 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a paraglider over the resort where the then-president was staying during a visit to Turnberry. The following year, police visited him that if he tried again, his safety wasn't assured.
The Arrests
However, the group's creators weren't especially worried about arrest. “My nervous energy is channelled into wanting the action to succeed,” says Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “By the time the police make the intervention, the message is already out.” Officers was swift, reaching the hotel in under three minutes, “really pumped up”, he remembers. “They were in jumpsuits and caps. They had located some protesters. They came roaring up the stairs; prepared; they were on a mission to protect the president. Thankfully, no firearms. But they were extremely tense upon entering the room. I told them: ‘We should keep this really calm.’”
Delaying a large number of police officers for six minutes. It helped that they 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, which another officer told him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three additional team members were then arrested for malicious communications, a stalking law. “The law is precise: it’s designed to deal with a serious offence. To throw it at an act of journalism, projected on to a wall, to protect the reputation of the president, appeared against the spirit of the legislation,” Stewart says archly. As his colleagues were arrested, he melted into the crowd, then soon after boarded a train leaving Windsor, calling lawyers.
An Ironic Interrogation
Some time in the middle of the night, as the detainees were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and re-arrested them, now for causing a public nuisance, deeming it a stronger charge. 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 involved Jeffrey Epstein. The activists responded to every question with: “I have no comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, the officers slid over a photograph: “‘Mr Knowles, did you take the drawer from this bedside table?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Mr Knowles, do you know anyone who may have had cause to take the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I knew what was coming: a picture of a giant projector, ratchet-strapped to several drawers. At that point, the detectives were finding it hard to maintain their composure.”
The Final Result
A little more than a month later, every charge was dismissed.
