The Aftermath: The Night Led By Donkeys Projected Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein on to Windsor Castle
When plans were revealed for the former president's upcoming official trip, complete with a Windsor Castle banquet on September 17th, 2025, the protest group Led By Donkeys felt compelled to ensure it did not go unprotested. The gesture of rolling out the red carpet seemed especially servile. Their subsequent art-activist event proceeded like clockwork.
A Provocative Film
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 is alleged to have been a long-time close friend of the nation's most infamous sex offender. He’s alleged to be referenced, repeatedly, in documents related to the criminal probe into Epstein … And now that president, Donald Trump, is a guest within Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump maintains he fell out with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s initial legal troubles and repeatedly refuted all allegations concerning Epstein.)
The Setup
The activists had booked rooms in the nearby Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with “castle view” and, more crucially, “castle view superior”, said group founder, Ben Stewart. Their equipment included a high-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart placed a Bluetooth speaker, hidden within a box of cereal, atop a garbage can outside.
The world’s media was assembled, their gaze fixed at the castle, becoming bored awaiting Trump's arrival. Their film, gained traction everywhere. “While the still pictures 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 a social object to share, implying: ‘This is something significant to examine here.’ It was an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed by millions.”
The Moment of Projection
The film began with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “It requires the castle's round tower needs a little bit of mapping,” Stewart states. “So there’s this royal crest. The police are thinking: ‘Ah, that’s nice – a royal tribute,’ and then abruptly a great big picture of Jeffrey Epstein appears. This electric jolt passed through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and the police raced into the hotel.”
Not Their First Protest
It wasn't their inaugural action; it wasn’t even their first effort against Trump. In 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a motorized paraglider near the resort where the president was staying in Scotland. The following year, police visited him that any repeat, his safety wasn't assured.
Confrontation with Police
But, the group's creators were not especially worried about detainment. “My nervous energy is channelled into wanting the protest works,” notes Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “Once the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” Officers was swift, reaching the hotel within three minutes, “really pumped up”, Knowles recalls. “Wearing jumpsuits and baseball caps. They had located the culprits. They came roaring up the stairs; prepared; tasked to safeguard the guest. Thankfully, no firearms. But they were extremely tense upon entering the room. I told them: ‘Let’s keep this calm.’”
Stalling a large number of police officers for six minutes. It helped that they didn’t know which law to charge anyone. Upon finally entering the room, “one officer started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another asked him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three additional activists were then arrested for malicious communications, a stalking law. “and it’s very specific: its purpose is to deal with a serious offence. To throw it at an act of journalism, projected on to a wall, in defense of the reputation of the president, appeared against the spirit of the legislation,” Stewart says archly. As his colleagues were arrested, he melted into the crowd, shortly thereafter was on a train out of Windsor, calling lawyers.
An Ironic Interrogation
Some time in the middle of the night, as the detainees sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and re-arrested them, now for public nuisance, deeming it a stronger charge. When they came to be questioned, the only officers available belonged to the child protection squad – an irony that 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 take the drawer from this nightstand?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Sir, 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 four drawers. At that point, the detectives were finding it hard to keep a straight face.”
The Final Result
Just over one month later, every charge were dropped.
