What Happened Next: The Evening Led By Donkeys Projected Images of Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle
When the announcement was made for Donald Trump’s second state visit, complete with a royal dinner at Windsor on 17 September 2025, the protest group Led By Donkeys felt compelled to ensure it did not go unprotested. The gesture of offering a lavish welcome was viewed as especially servile. Their next art-activist event unfolded with precision.
A Deliberate Message
The group produced a short documentary exploring Donald Trump’s relationship with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. It concluded: “The president of the United States was a longstanding associate of the nation's most infamous sex offender. His name is said to be referenced, numerous times, in the files related to the investigation into Epstein … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest in Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump maintains he fell out with Epstein years before Epstein’s initial legal troubles and repeatedly refuted any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.)
Preparations and Execution
The activists had secured rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, which boast “castle view” and, even more helpfully, “castle view superior”, according to group founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a powerful projector. To broadcast sound, Stewart placed a wireless speaker, hidden within a box of cereal, atop a garbage can outside.
International press had gathered, their gaze fixed at the castle, becoming bored awaiting Trump's arrival. The film, however, gained traction everywhere. “While the still pictures of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart says, “I doubt that persuades anyone of anything – it just makes Trump uneasy. The film we made gives people something tangible to share, saying: ‘There’s something significant to look at here.’ We took an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was seen 20m times.”
The Moment of Projection
The film began with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “It requires the castle's round tower needs some technical calibration,” Stewart states. “So there’s this royal crest. The police likely thought: ‘How pleasant – a royal tribute,’ and suddenly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein appears. This electric jolt goes through the officers nearby, and they all pile into the hotel.”
Not Their First Protest
It wasn't the group’s first rodeo; it wasn’t even their first effort against Trump. Back in 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a paraglider near the resort where the then-president was staying during a visit to Turnberry. The following year, officers warned him that any repeat, they couldn’t guarantee.
The Arrests
But, the group's creators weren't overly concerned about arrest. “My nervous energy goes into wanting the action to succeed,” notes Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “By the time the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” Officers was rapid, arriving in the lobby in under three minutes, “really pumped up”, he remembers. “They were in tactical gear and baseball caps. They had located some protesters. They came roaring up the stairs; they were briefed; they were on a mission to safeguard the guest. Thankfully, no firearms. But they were very adrenalised when they entered the room. I told them: ‘We should keep this really calm.’”
Delaying a large number of police officers is a long time. The fact that officers didn’t know which law to charge anyone. When they finally entered the room, “a policeman began reciting a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another told him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three other activists were subsequently detained for malicious communications, a law related to harassment. “and it’s very specific: it’s designed to deal with a serious offence. To throw it at a piece of journalism, projected on to a wall, in defense of the reputation of the president, seemed against the spirit 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
Some time that night, while the activists sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and re-arrested them, this time for causing a public nuisance, deeming it a stronger charge. When they came to be questioned, the only officers available belonged to the child protection unit – an irony that was not lost on anyone, given the subject matter of the protest involved Jeffrey Epstein. Knowles and his associates responded to every question with: “I have no comment.” A few minutes into the interview, the officers slid over 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 anticipated the next move: an image of a large projector, ratchet-strapped to several drawers. At that point, the officers struggled to keep a straight face.”
The Outcome
Just over one month later, all charges was dismissed.
