🔗 Share this article The Aftermath: The Evening The Activist Group Beamed Images of Trump and Epstein on to Windsor Castle When plans were revealed for the former president's upcoming official trip, including a Windsor Castle banquet on 17 September 2025, the protest group known as Led By Donkeys was determined not to let it pass unprotested. The gesture of rolling out the red carpet was viewed as especially servile. Their subsequent creative protest proceeded like clockwork. A Deliberate Message Activists created a nine-minute film detailing Donald Trump’s relationship with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. Its ending stated: “The president of the United States was a long-time close friend of America’s most notorious child sex trafficker. He’s alleged to be mentioned, numerous times, in documents related to the criminal probe into Epstein … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest within Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump maintains he fell out 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, rooms advertised with “castle view” and, more crucially, “castle view superior”, according to group founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a powerful projector. For audio, Stewart positioned a wireless speaker, hidden within a box of cereal, on top of a public rubbish bin outside. International press was assembled, staring at the castle, becoming bored awaiting Trump's arrival. The film, however, spread rapidly globally. “While photographs of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart notes, “I doubt that persuades anyone of anything – it simply makes Trump uncomfortable. The film we made provides viewers a social object to share, implying: ‘This is something significant to examine here.’ It was a piece of guerrilla journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed 20m times.” The Reveal It started with the official Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto a cylindrical building requires a little bit of mapping,” Stewart explains. “So there’s the royal coat of arms. Officers are thinking: ‘Ah, that’s nice – the royal family,’ and suddenly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein appears. This electric jolt passed through the officers around me, and they raced into the hotel.” A History of Activism This was not the group’s first rodeo; it wasn’t even their first effort against Trump. Back in 2018, while working for Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a paraglider over the resort where the then-president was staying in Scotland. A year later, officers warned him that any repeat, his safety wasn't assured. The Arrests But, the group's creators weren't especially worried about arrest. “My nervous energy goes into wanting the protest works,” notes Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “By the time the police arrive, the die is cast.” The police response was rapid, arriving in the lobby in under three minutes, “really pumped up”, Knowles recalls. “Wearing tactical gear and baseball caps. They’d finally found the culprits. They charged up the stairs; they were briefed; they were on a mission to safeguard the guest. Thankfully, no firearms. But they were extremely tense upon entering the room. I had to say: ‘We should keep this calm.’” Delaying multiple police officers is a long time. It helped that they were unsure which law to charge anyone. Upon finally entering the room, “a policeman started reading a clause of the Town and Country Planning Act, which another officer asked him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three additional team members were then arrested for malicious communications, a law related to harassment. “The law is precise: its purpose is to deal with a serious offence. Applying it to an act of journalism, projected on to a wall, in defense of the reputation of the president, seemed contrary to the intent of the legislation,” Stewart says archly. As his colleagues were arrested, he slipped away, then soon after boarded a train leaving Windsor, contacting legal counsel. A Second Arrest and Questioning Later that night, as the detainees sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and arrested them again, this time for causing a public nuisance, deeming it more likely to succeed. During interrogation, the sole available interrogators belonged to the child protection squad – an irony that was not lost on anyone, given the focus of the protest involved Jeffrey Epstein. The activists just answered all queries with: “I have no comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, police presented a photograph: “They asked, did you take 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: 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 one month later, every charge were dropped.
When plans were revealed for the former president's upcoming official trip, including a Windsor Castle banquet on 17 September 2025, the protest group known as Led By Donkeys was determined not to let it pass unprotested. The gesture of rolling out the red carpet was viewed as especially servile. Their subsequent creative protest proceeded like clockwork. A Deliberate Message Activists created a nine-minute film detailing Donald Trump’s relationship with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. Its ending stated: “The president of the United States was a long-time close friend of America’s most notorious child sex trafficker. He’s alleged to be mentioned, numerous times, in documents related to the criminal probe into Epstein … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest within Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump maintains he fell out 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, rooms advertised with “castle view” and, more crucially, “castle view superior”, according to group founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a powerful projector. For audio, Stewart positioned a wireless speaker, hidden within a box of cereal, on top of a public rubbish bin outside. International press was assembled, staring at the castle, becoming bored awaiting Trump's arrival. The film, however, spread rapidly globally. “While photographs of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart notes, “I doubt that persuades anyone of anything – it simply makes Trump uncomfortable. The film we made provides viewers a social object to share, implying: ‘This is something significant to examine here.’ It was a piece of guerrilla journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed 20m times.” The Reveal It started with the official Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto a cylindrical building requires a little bit of mapping,” Stewart explains. “So there’s the royal coat of arms. Officers are thinking: ‘Ah, that’s nice – the royal family,’ and suddenly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein appears. This electric jolt passed through the officers around me, and they raced into the hotel.” A History of Activism This was not the group’s first rodeo; it wasn’t even their first effort against Trump. Back in 2018, while working for Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a paraglider over the resort where the then-president was staying in Scotland. A year later, officers warned him that any repeat, his safety wasn't assured. The Arrests But, the group's creators weren't especially worried about arrest. “My nervous energy goes into wanting the protest works,” notes Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “By the time the police arrive, the die is cast.” The police response was rapid, arriving in the lobby in under three minutes, “really pumped up”, Knowles recalls. “Wearing tactical gear and baseball caps. They’d finally found the culprits. They charged up the stairs; they were briefed; they were on a mission to safeguard the guest. Thankfully, no firearms. But they were extremely tense upon entering the room. I had to say: ‘We should keep this calm.’” Delaying multiple police officers is a long time. It helped that they were unsure which law to charge anyone. Upon finally entering the room, “a policeman started reading a clause of the Town and Country Planning Act, which another officer asked him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three additional team members were then arrested for malicious communications, a law related to harassment. “The law is precise: its purpose is to deal with a serious offence. Applying it to an act of journalism, projected on to a wall, in defense of the reputation of the president, seemed contrary to the intent of the legislation,” Stewart says archly. As his colleagues were arrested, he slipped away, then soon after boarded a train leaving Windsor, contacting legal counsel. A Second Arrest and Questioning Later that night, as the detainees sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and arrested them again, this time for causing a public nuisance, deeming it more likely to succeed. During interrogation, the sole available interrogators belonged to the child protection squad – an irony that was not lost on anyone, given the focus of the protest involved Jeffrey Epstein. The activists just answered all queries with: “I have no comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, police presented a photograph: “They asked, did you take 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: 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 one month later, every charge were dropped.