What Happened Next: The Night The Activist Group Beamed Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle
When plans were revealed for Donald Trump’s second state visit, 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 unprotested. The act of offering a lavish welcome seemed particularly craven. Their subsequent creative protest proceeded like clockwork.
A Provocative Film
Activists created a short documentary exploring Donald Trump’s relationship with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. Its ending stated: “The president of the United States is alleged to have been a long-time close friend of the nation's most infamous child sex trafficker. He’s alleged to be referenced, numerous times, in the files related to the investigation into that individual … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is sleeping here within Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump has stated he fell out with Epstein years before Epstein’s first arrest and repeatedly refuted any wrongdoing concerning Epstein.)
The Setup
The group had secured rooms in the nearby Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with views of the castle and, more crucially, “castle view superior”, according to group founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart positioned a Bluetooth speaker, concealed within a box of cereal, atop a garbage can outside.
International press was assembled, their gaze fixed at the castle, becoming bored as Trump was delayed. The film, however, spread rapidly globally. “Although the still pictures of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart notes, “I’m not sure that convinces people of anything – it just makes Trump uneasy. Our documentary gives people a social object to share, implying: ‘This is something really serious to examine here.’ We took an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed 20m times.”
The Reveal
It started with the official Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto a cylindrical building needs a little bit of mapping,” Stewart explains. “So there’s the royal coat of arms. 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 officers nearby, and the police all pile into the hotel.”
Not Their First Protest
It wasn't their inaugural action; nor was it their first action targeting Trump. In 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a paraglider over the hotel where the president was staying in Scotland. The following year, officers warned him that any repeat, they couldn’t guarantee.
Confrontation with Police
But, the activists were not especially worried about detainment. “My nervous energy goes into ensuring the action to succeed,” notes Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “Once the police make the intervention, 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 baseball caps. They had located the culprits. They charged up the stairs; prepared; tasked to safeguard the guest. Fortunately, no firearms. But they were very adrenalised upon entering the room. I had to say: ‘We should keep this really calm.’”
Stalling multiple police officers is a long time. It helped that officers didn’t know under what law to make arrests. 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 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 an act of journalism, projected on to a wall, in defense of the reputation of the president, seemed against the spirit of the legislation,” Stewart says archly. As his colleagues were arrested, he slipped away, then soon after was on a train leaving Windsor, calling lawyers.
An Ironic Interrogation
Later that night, as the detainees were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and arrested them again, this time for causing a public nuisance, deeming it more likely to succeed. During interrogation, the only officers available belonged to the child protection unit – a twist which was not lost on anyone, given the subject matter of the protest concerned Jeffrey Epstein. Knowles and his associates just answered all queries with: “No comment.” A few minutes into the interview, the officers slid over a photo: “They asked, did you take the drawer from this bedside table?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Sir, do you know anyone who may have had reason to remove the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I knew what was coming: a picture of a giant projector, secured to four drawers. Then, the officers were finding it hard to keep a straight face.”
The Outcome
A little more than one month later, all charges was dismissed.
