What Happened Next: The Evening Led By Donkeys Projected Images of Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle
When the announcement was made for Donald Trump’s upcoming official trip, complete with a Windsor Castle banquet on 17 September 2025, the protest group known as Led By Donkeys was determined not to let it pass unprotested. The gesture of offering a lavish welcome seemed especially servile. Their subsequent art-activist event proceeded like clockwork.
A Deliberate Message
Activists created a nine-minute film detailing Donald Trump’s relationship with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. It concluded: “The commander-in-chief of the United States was a longstanding associate of the nation's most infamous sex offender. His name is said to be mentioned, repeatedly, in the files related to the investigation into that individual … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest in Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump has stated he ended his friendship with Epstein years before Epstein’s first arrest and repeatedly refuted any wrongdoing concerning Epstein.)
Preparations and Execution
The activists had booked rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with views of the castle and, even more helpfully, “castle view superior”, said a co-founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a powerful projector. To broadcast sound, Stewart placed a wireless speaker, hidden within a box of cereal, atop a garbage can outside.
The world’s media had gathered, staring at the castle, growing restless awaiting Trump's arrival. The film, however, gained traction everywhere. “While the still pictures 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 gives people a social object to share, saying: ‘This is something really serious to examine here.’ It was a piece of guerrilla journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was seen by millions.”
The Reveal
The film began with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto a cylindrical building requires a little bit of mapping,” Stewart states. “First appeared the royal coat of arms. The police likely thought: ‘How pleasant – a royal tribute,’ and suddenly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein appears. A wave of shock goes through the officers around me, and the police raced into the hotel.”
A History of Activism
This was not the group’s first rodeo; it wasn’t even their first effort against Trump. Back in 2018, while working for Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a paraglider over the hotel where the president was staying during a visit to Turnberry. The following year, officers warned him that any repeat, his safety wasn't assured.
The Arrests
However, the activists were not especially worried about arrest. “My nervous energy is channelled into ensuring the action to succeed,” notes Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “Once the police arrive, the die is cast.” Officers was rapid, reaching the hotel within three minutes, “really pumped up”, he remembers. “They were in tactical gear and 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 upon entering the room. I told them: ‘We should keep this really calm.’”
Delaying multiple police officers is a long time. It helped that they didn’t know which law to charge anyone. Upon finally entering the room, “one officer began reciting a section 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 communication, a stalking law. “The law is precise: it’s designed to deal with a really concerning 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 remarks pointedly. As his colleagues were arrested, he melted into the crowd, then soon after boarded a train out of Windsor, contacting legal counsel.
An Ironic Interrogation
Some time that night, while the activists sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and re-arrested them, this time for public nuisance, having decided more likely to succeed. During interrogation, the sole available interrogators were from the child protection squad – an irony which was not lost on anyone, given the subject matter of the protest concerned Jeffrey Epstein. Knowles and his associates just answered every question with: “I have no comment.” A few minutes into the interview, the officers slid over a photograph: “They asked, did you take the drawer from this bedside table?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Sir, do you know anyone who may have had cause to take the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I anticipated what was coming: a picture of a giant projector, ratchet-strapped to four drawers. At that point, the officers struggled to maintain their composure.”
The Final Result
A little more than a month later, every charge was dismissed.
