What Happened Next: The Evening The Activist Group Projected Images of 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 September 17th, 2025, the protest group known as Led By Donkeys felt compelled to ensure it did not go without a statement. The gesture of rolling out the red carpet was viewed as especially servile. Their subsequent creative protest proceeded like clockwork.
A Deliberate Message
Activists created a short documentary detailing Donald Trump’s relationship with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. Its ending stated: “The commander-in-chief of the United States is alleged to have been a long-time close friend of America’s most notorious sex offender. His name is said to be mentioned, repeatedly, in the files from the criminal probe into that individual … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest within Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump maintains he fell out with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s first arrest and repeatedly refuted all allegations in relation to Epstein.)
The Setup
The group had secured rooms in the nearby Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with views of the castle and, even more helpfully, superior castle views, according to group founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a high-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart positioned a wireless speaker, hidden within a box of cereal, atop a public rubbish bin outside.
The world’s media was assembled, staring at the castle, growing restless awaiting Trump's arrival. Their film, gained traction globally. “Although photographs of Epstein and Trump went viral online,” Stewart says, “I doubt that persuades anyone of anything – it just makes Trump uncomfortable. The film we made provides viewers a social object to share, saying: ‘This is 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 recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto the castle's round tower needs some technical calibration,” Stewart explains. “First appeared this royal crest. Officers likely thought: ‘How pleasant – the royal family,’ and then abruptly a great big picture of Jeffrey Epstein appears. A wave of shock goes through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and the police raced into the hotel.”
Not Their First Protest
It wasn't the group’s first rodeo; it wasn’t even their first effort targeting Trump. Back in 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a motorized paraglider over the hotel where the then-president was staying in Scotland. A year later, officers warned him that if he tried again, his safety wasn't assured.
Confrontation with Police
But, the group's creators weren't especially worried about arrest. “My nervous energy is channelled into wanting the protest works,” notes Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “Once the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” The police response was rapid, arriving in the lobby within three minutes, highly agitated, he remembers. “Wearing jumpsuits and baseball caps. They’d finally found some protesters. They came roaring up the stairs; prepared; they were on a mission to safeguard the guest. Thankfully, no guns. But they were extremely tense when they entered the room. I had to say: ‘We should keep this really calm.’”
Delaying multiple police officers for six minutes. It helped that officers were unsure which law to make arrests. When they finally entered the room, “one officer began reciting 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. “The law is precise: it’s designed to deal with a serious offence. Applying it to a piece of journalism, displayed on a wall, to protect the reputation of the president, appeared against the spirit of the legislation,” Stewart remarks pointedly. As his colleagues were arrested, he slipped away, then soon after boarded a train out of Windsor, contacting legal counsel.
An Ironic Interrogation
Later in the middle of the night, as the detainees were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and arrested them again, now for public nuisance, deeming it more likely to succeed. When they came to be questioned, the sole available interrogators were from the child protection unit – an irony which was not lost on anyone, given the focus of the protest concerned alleged sex offender. Knowles and his associates just answered all queries with: “No comment.” A few minutes into the interview, police presented a photograph: “‘Mr Knowles, did you take the drawer from this bedside table?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Sir, do you know anybody else who may have had cause to take the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I anticipated what was coming: a picture of a giant projector, secured to four drawers. Then, the detectives were finding it hard to keep a straight face.”
The Final Result
Just over a month later, every charge was dismissed.
