What Happened Next: The Night The Activist Group Projected Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle
When the announcement was made for the former president's second state visit, complete with a Windsor Castle banquet on 17 September 2025, the protest group known as Led By Donkeys was determined to ensure it did not go without a statement. The act of offering a lavish welcome seemed particularly craven. Their subsequent art-activist event unfolded like clockwork.
A Deliberate Message
Activists created a nine-minute film exploring the connections with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. Its ending stated: “The president of the United States was a longstanding associate of the nation's most infamous sex offender. He’s alleged to be referenced, repeatedly, in documents related to the criminal probe into that individual … And now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest within Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump has stated 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 activists had booked rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with “castle view” and, even more helpfully, “castle view superior”, according to a co-founder, Ben Stewart. Their equipment included a high-lumen 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart positioned a wireless speaker, concealed inside a cereal box, atop a public rubbish bin outside.
The world’s media had gathered, staring at the castle, becoming bored awaiting Trump's arrival. The film, however, gained traction globally. “Although photographs of Epstein and Trump went viral online,” Stewart notes, “I doubt that persuades anyone of anything – it simply makes Trump uneasy. Our documentary provides viewers something tangible to share, implying: ‘This is something significant to look at here.’ It was an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was seen 20m times.”
The Reveal
It started with the official Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto the castle's round tower needs some technical calibration,” Stewart explains. “So there’s this royal crest. The police likely thought: ‘Ah, that’s nice – a royal tribute,’ and suddenly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein materializes. This electric jolt goes through the officers nearby, and the police raced into the hotel.”
A History of Activism
It wasn't their inaugural action; nor was it their first effort against Trump. Back in 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a motorized paraglider near the hotel where the then-president was staying in Scotland. The following year, police visited him that any repeat, his safety wasn't assured.
Confrontation with Police
However, the group's creators weren't overly concerned about arrest. “My nervous energy is channelled into ensuring the action to succeed,” says Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “Once the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” Officers was swift, arriving in the lobby within three minutes, highly agitated, he remembers. “They were in tactical gear and caps. They’d finally found some protesters. They came roaring up the stairs; prepared; tasked to safeguard the guest. Fortunately, no firearms. But they were extremely tense when they entered the room. I had to say: ‘Let’s keep this calm.’”
Delaying multiple police officers is a long time. It helped that officers 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, before another asked him to stop because it wasn’t right.” Knowles and three other team members were then arrested for malicious communications, a stalking law. “and it’s very specific: its purpose is to address a serious offence. To throw it at an act of journalism, displayed on a wall, to protect the reputation of the president, appeared contrary to the intent of the legislation,” Stewart says archly. As his colleagues were arrested, he slipped away, then soon after boarded a train out of Windsor, calling lawyers.
A Second Arrest and Questioning
Some time in the middle of the night, while the activists were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and arrested them again, now for public nuisance, deeming it more likely to succeed. During interrogation, the only officers available belonged to the child protection unit – an irony that was palpable, given the focus of the protest concerned alleged sex offender. The activists responded to all queries with: “I have no comment.” A few minutes into the interview, the officers slid over a photo: “They asked, did you take 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: an image of a giant projector, ratchet-strapped to several drawers. At that point, the detectives were finding it hard to maintain their composure.”
The Outcome
Just over a month later, every charge was dismissed.
