What Happened Next: The Night Led By Donkeys Projected Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle
When the announcement was made for the former president's upcoming official trip, including a Windsor Castle banquet on 17 September 2025, the activist collective Led By Donkeys was determined to ensure it did not go without a statement. The gesture of rolling out the red carpet seemed particularly craven. Their next creative protest proceeded like clockwork.
A Provocative Film
Activists created a short documentary detailing Donald Trump’s relationship with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. Its ending stated: “The commander-in-chief of the United States is alleged to have been a longstanding associate of America’s most notorious sex offender. He’s alleged to be mentioned, repeatedly, in documents from the investigation into Epstein … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest in Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump has stated he ended his friendship with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s initial legal troubles and has consistently denied all allegations concerning Epstein.)
Preparations and Execution
The group had secured rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, which boast “castle view” and, more crucially, “castle view superior”, said a co-founder, Ben Stewart. Their equipment included a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart placed a wireless speaker, concealed within a box of cereal, atop a public rubbish bin outside.
International press was assembled, staring at the castle, becoming bored awaiting Trump's arrival. The film, however, gained traction everywhere. “Although photographs of Epstein and Trump went viral online,” Stewart says, “I’m not sure that convinces people of anything – it simply makes Trump uneasy. Our documentary gives people a social object to share, implying: ‘This is something significant to examine here.’ We took a piece of guerrilla journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was seen 20m times.”
The Moment of Projection
It started with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “It requires the castle's round tower requires some technical calibration,” Stewart states. “First appeared the royal coat of arms. Officers are thinking: ‘How pleasant – a royal tribute,’ and suddenly a great big picture of Jeffrey Epstein materializes. A wave of shock passed through the officers around me, and they raced into the hotel.”
A History of Activism
It wasn't the group’s first rodeo; it wasn’t even their first action targeting Trump. In 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a motorized paraglider near the resort where the president was staying during a visit to Turnberry. A year later, police visited him that if he tried again, they couldn’t guarantee.
The Arrests
But, the group's creators were not overly concerned about arrest. “My nervous energy goes into wanting the action to succeed,” says Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “Once the police arrive, the message is already out.” The police response was swift, arriving in the lobby in under three minutes, highly agitated, he remembers. “Wearing tactical gear and caps. They had located some protesters. They charged up the stairs; prepared; they were on a mission to protect the president. Fortunately, no firearms. But they were extremely tense when they entered the room. I told them: ‘We should keep this calm.’”
Delaying multiple police officers is a long time. It helped that they were unsure which law to charge anyone. When they finally entered the room, “a policeman started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, which another officer asked 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: it’s designed to deal with a serious offence. Applying it to an act of journalism, displayed on a wall, to protect 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, then soon after was on a train out of Windsor, calling lawyers.
A Second Arrest and Questioning
Some time that night, while the activists sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered 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 unit – an irony which was not lost on anyone, given the subject matter of the protest concerned Jeffrey Epstein. Knowles and his associates responded to every question with: “No comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, police presented a photo: “They asked, did you take the drawer from this bedside table?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Mr Knowles, do you know anybody else who may have had reason to remove the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I knew the next move: an image of a giant projector, secured 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.
