The Unfolding Events: The Night The Activist Group Projected Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle
When plans were revealed for Donald Trump’s second state visit, complete with a Windsor Castle banquet on September 17th, 2025, the protest group Led By Donkeys felt compelled not to let it pass without a statement. The gesture of offering a lavish welcome seemed especially servile. Their next art-activist event unfolded with precision.
A Provocative Film
The group produced a nine-minute film 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 the nation's most infamous child sex trafficker. He’s alleged to be referenced, numerous times, in documents from the investigation into that individual … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest in Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump maintains he ended his friendship with Epstein years before Epstein’s initial legal troubles and repeatedly refuted any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.)
Preparations and Execution
The group had booked rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, which boast “castle view” and, more crucially, superior castle views, according to group founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a high-lumen 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart positioned a Bluetooth speaker, concealed inside a cereal box, on top of a public rubbish bin outside.
International press had gathered, their gaze fixed at the castle, growing restless as Trump was delayed. The film, however, spread rapidly globally. “While 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 uncomfortable. The film we made provides viewers something tangible to share, saying: ‘There’s something significant to examine here.’ We took an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was seen 20m times.”
The Reveal
It started with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto a cylindrical building requires some technical calibration,” Stewart states. “So there’s the royal coat of arms. The police are thinking: ‘How pleasant – the royal family,’ and suddenly a great big picture of Jeffrey Epstein materializes. This electric jolt passed through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and the police all pile into the hotel.”
A History of Activism
This was not their inaugural action; nor was it their first effort against Trump. In 2018, while working for Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a paraglider near the hotel where the president was staying in Scotland. A year later, police visited him that if he tried again, they couldn’t guarantee.
The Arrests
However, the group's creators were not especially worried about detainment. “All my anxiety goes into ensuring the protest works,” notes Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “By the time the police arrive, the die is cast.” Officers was swift, arriving in the lobby in under three minutes, “really pumped up”, Knowles recalls. “They were in jumpsuits and baseball caps. They’d finally found the culprits. They charged up the stairs; prepared; tasked to protect the president. Thankfully, no guns. But they were very adrenalised when they entered the room. I told them: ‘We should keep this calm.’”
Delaying multiple police officers for six minutes. It helped that officers didn’t know which law to make arrests. When they finally entered the room, “one officer started reading a clause of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another told 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 deal with a serious offence. Applying it to a piece of journalism, projected on to a wall, in defense of the reputation of the president, appeared against the spirit of the legislation,” Stewart remarks pointedly. As his colleagues were arrested, he melted into the crowd, then soon after boarded a train leaving Windsor, contacting legal counsel.
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, having decided a stronger charge. During interrogation, the sole available interrogators were from the child protection unit – a twist which was not lost on anyone, given the focus of the protest involved Jeffrey Epstein. The activists responded to all queries with: “No comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, police presented a photo: “They asked, did you remove 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: an image of a large projector, ratchet-strapped to several drawers. At that point, the officers struggled to keep a straight face.”
The Outcome
A little more than one month later, all charges was dismissed.