The Unfolding Events: The Night The Activist Group Beamed Images of Trump and Epstein on to Windsor Castle

When the announcement was made for Donald Trump’s upcoming official trip, complete with a royal dinner at Windsor 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 was viewed as especially servile. Their next creative protest proceeded like clockwork.

A Deliberate Message

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 longstanding associate of the nation's most infamous sex offender. His name is said to be referenced, repeatedly, in the files from the criminal probe into that individual … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest in Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump maintains he fell out with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s first arrest and repeatedly refuted any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.)

The Setup

The group had booked rooms in the nearby Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with views of the castle and, even more helpfully, “castle view superior”, according to a co-founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a high-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart placed a wireless speaker, concealed inside a cereal box, on top of a public rubbish bin outside.

The world’s media had gathered, their gaze fixed at the castle, becoming bored as Trump was delayed. The film, however, gained traction everywhere. “While the still pictures of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart notes, “I doubt that convinces people of anything – it simply makes Trump uncomfortable. Our documentary provides viewers a social object to share, saying: ‘This is something significant to examine here.’ We took an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was seen 20m times.”

The Moment of Projection

It started with the official Windsor Castle logo. “It requires the castle's round tower requires a little bit of mapping,” Stewart explains. “So there’s the royal coat of arms. Officers likely thought: ‘Ah, that’s nice – a royal tribute,’ and suddenly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein appears. A wave of shock goes through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and they raced into the hotel.”

Not Their First Protest

This was not the group’s first rodeo; nor was it their first action targeting Trump. Back in 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a motorized paraglider near the hotel where the president was staying in Scotland. A year later, officers warned him that any repeat, they couldn’t guarantee.

Confrontation with Police

But, the activists weren't especially worried about arrest. “All my anxiety is channelled into wanting the protest works,” says Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “By the time the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” Officers was rapid, arriving in the lobby in under three minutes, highly agitated, he remembers. “Wearing tactical gear and baseball caps. They had located some protesters. They charged up the stairs; they were briefed; they were on a mission to safeguard the guest. Fortunately, no guns. But they were extremely tense when they entered the room. I told them: ‘We should keep this really calm.’”

Stalling a large number of police officers is a long time. The fact that they didn’t know under what law to make arrests. When they finally entered the room, “a policeman began reciting a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, which another officer told him to stop because it wasn’t right.” Knowles and three additional activists were then arrested for malicious communication, a law related to harassment. “and it’s very specific: it’s designed to deal with a really concerning offence. Applying it to an act of journalism, projected on to a wall, to protect the reputation of the president, seemed contrary to the intent of the legislation,” Stewart says archly. As his colleagues were arrested, he slipped away, shortly thereafter boarded a train out of Windsor, contacting legal counsel.

An Ironic Interrogation

Later in the middle of the night, while the activists sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and arrested them again, now for causing a public nuisance, deeming it more likely to succeed. During interrogation, the sole available interrogators were from the child protection squad – an irony which was palpable, given the focus of the protest concerned Jeffrey Epstein. The activists just answered every question with: “I have no comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, police presented a photograph: “They asked, did you remove the drawer from this bedside table?’ ‘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, secured to several drawers. Then, the detectives were finding it hard to maintain their composure.”

The Outcome

Just over one month later, all charges were dropped.