🔗 Share this article What Happened Next: The Evening The Activist Group Beamed 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 activist collective known as Led By Donkeys felt compelled to ensure it did not go unprotested. The gesture of rolling out the red carpet seemed particularly craven. Their next art-activist event unfolded with precision. A Provocative Film The group produced a short documentary exploring the connections 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 America’s most notorious child sex trafficker. His name is said to be referenced, numerous times, in the files from the investigation into Epstein … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is sleeping here in Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump maintains he ended his friendship with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s first arrest and repeatedly refuted all allegations in relation to Epstein.) Preparations and Execution The activists had booked rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, which boast views of the castle and, even more helpfully, “castle view superior”, according to a co-founder, Ben Stewart. Their equipment included a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart placed a Bluetooth speaker, concealed within a box of cereal, on top of a garbage can outside. The world’s media had gathered, their gaze fixed at the castle, growing restless awaiting Trump's arrival. The film, however, spread rapidly globally. “While photographs of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart says, “I doubt that convinces people of anything – it just makes Trump uneasy. The film we made provides viewers something tangible to share, implying: ‘This is something really serious to look at here.’ We took 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 the castle's round tower needs a little bit of mapping,” Stewart explains. “So there’s the royal coat of arms. The police are thinking: ‘How pleasant – a royal tribute,’ and suddenly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein appears. A wave of shock passed through the officers around me, and they raced into the hotel.” Not Their First Protest This was not their inaugural action; nor was it their first effort against Trump. In 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a motorized paraglider near the resort where the then-president was staying in Scotland. The following year, police visited him that if he tried again, they couldn’t guarantee. The Arrests But, the group's creators were not especially worried about detainment. “All my anxiety goes into wanting the action to succeed,” notes Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “By the time the police make the intervention, the message is already out.” The police response was rapid, reaching the hotel in under three minutes, highly agitated, he remembers. “They were in tactical gear and caps. They had located some protesters. They came roaring up the stairs; they were briefed; tasked to protect the president. Fortunately, no firearms. But they were extremely tense upon entering the room. I told them: ‘We should keep this calm.’” Stalling a large number of police officers for six minutes. It helped that they didn’t know under what law to make arrests. When they finally entered the room, “one officer started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, which another officer told him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three additional activists were subsequently detained for malicious communications, a stalking law. “The law is precise: its purpose is to deal with a really concerning offence. To throw it at a piece 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. While the others were detained, he melted into the crowd, shortly thereafter boarded a train leaving Windsor, calling lawyers. A Second Arrest and Questioning Some time 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, having decided a stronger charge. During interrogation, the only officers available were from the child protection unit – a twist which was palpable, given the focus of the protest concerned alleged sex offender. Knowles and his associates responded to every question with: “No comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, the officers slid over a photograph: “‘Mr Knowles, did you take the drawer from this nightstand?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Mr Knowles, do you know anybody else who may have had cause to take the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I anticipated the next move: a picture of a large projector, ratchet-strapped to several drawers. At that point, the detectives struggled to maintain their composure.” The Final Result Just over a month later, every charge were dropped.
When the announcement was made for Donald Trump’s upcoming official trip, complete with a Windsor Castle banquet on 17 September 2025, the activist collective known as Led By Donkeys felt compelled to ensure it did not go unprotested. The gesture of rolling out the red carpet seemed particularly craven. Their next art-activist event unfolded with precision. A Provocative Film The group produced a short documentary exploring the connections 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 America’s most notorious child sex trafficker. His name is said to be referenced, numerous times, in the files from the investigation into Epstein … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is sleeping here in Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump maintains he ended his friendship with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s first arrest and repeatedly refuted all allegations in relation to Epstein.) Preparations and Execution The activists had booked rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, which boast views of the castle and, even more helpfully, “castle view superior”, according to a co-founder, Ben Stewart. Their equipment included a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart placed a Bluetooth speaker, concealed within a box of cereal, on top of a garbage can outside. The world’s media had gathered, their gaze fixed at the castle, growing restless awaiting Trump's arrival. The film, however, spread rapidly globally. “While photographs of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart says, “I doubt that convinces people of anything – it just makes Trump uneasy. The film we made provides viewers something tangible to share, implying: ‘This is something really serious to look at here.’ We took 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 the castle's round tower needs a little bit of mapping,” Stewart explains. “So there’s the royal coat of arms. The police are thinking: ‘How pleasant – a royal tribute,’ and suddenly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein appears. A wave of shock passed through the officers around me, and they raced into the hotel.” Not Their First Protest This was not their inaugural action; nor was it their first effort against Trump. In 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a motorized paraglider near the resort where the then-president was staying in Scotland. The following year, police visited him that if he tried again, they couldn’t guarantee. The Arrests But, the group's creators were not especially worried about detainment. “All my anxiety goes into wanting the action to succeed,” notes Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “By the time the police make the intervention, the message is already out.” The police response was rapid, reaching the hotel in under three minutes, highly agitated, he remembers. “They were in tactical gear and caps. They had located some protesters. They came roaring up the stairs; they were briefed; tasked to protect the president. Fortunately, no firearms. But they were extremely tense upon entering the room. I told them: ‘We should keep this calm.’” Stalling a large number of police officers for six minutes. It helped that they didn’t know under what law to make arrests. When they finally entered the room, “one officer started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, which another officer told him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three additional activists were subsequently detained for malicious communications, a stalking law. “The law is precise: its purpose is to deal with a really concerning offence. To throw it at a piece 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. While the others were detained, he melted into the crowd, shortly thereafter boarded a train leaving Windsor, calling lawyers. A Second Arrest and Questioning Some time 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, having decided a stronger charge. During interrogation, the only officers available were from the child protection unit – a twist which was palpable, given the focus of the protest concerned alleged sex offender. Knowles and his associates responded to every question with: “No comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, the officers slid over a photograph: “‘Mr Knowles, did you take the drawer from this nightstand?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Mr Knowles, do you know anybody else who may have had cause to take the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I anticipated the next move: a picture of a large projector, ratchet-strapped to several drawers. At that point, the detectives struggled to maintain their composure.” The Final Result Just over a month later, every charge were dropped.