The Unfolding Events: The Night Led By Donkeys Projected Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle
When the announcement was made for the former president's upcoming official trip, complete with a Windsor Castle banquet on 17 September 2025, the protest group known as Led By Donkeys was determined to ensure it did not go without a statement. The gesture of offering a lavish welcome seemed particularly craven. Their next creative protest proceeded like clockwork.
A Provocative Film
Activists created a short documentary detailing Donald Trump’s relationship with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. Its ending stated: “The president of the United States is alleged to have been a long-time close friend of America’s most notorious child sex trafficker. He’s alleged to be mentioned, repeatedly, in the files related to the criminal probe into Epstein … And now that very man, Donald Trump, is sleeping here in Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump maintains he fell out with Epstein years before Epstein’s first arrest and has consistently denied all allegations in relation to Epstein.)
Preparations and Execution
The activists had secured rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with views of the castle and, more crucially, “castle view superior”, said group founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a powerful 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, growing restless awaiting Trump's arrival. The film, however, gained traction globally. “Although photographs of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart notes, “I’m not sure that convinces people of anything – it just makes Trump uncomfortable. Our documentary gives people something tangible to share, implying: ‘This is something really serious 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 a cylindrical building requires some technical calibration,” Stewart states. “First appeared this royal crest. Officers are thinking: ‘How pleasant – the royal family,’ and then abruptly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein appears. This electric jolt goes through the police in fluorescent jackets nearby, and they all pile into the hotel.”
A History of Activism
This was not the group’s first rodeo; nor was it their first action against Trump. Back in 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a motorized paraglider over 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 were not especially worried about detainment. “All my anxiety goes into ensuring the action to succeed,” says Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “By the time the police make the intervention, the message is already out.” The police response was swift, arriving in the lobby within three minutes, highly agitated, he remembers. “They were in tactical gear and baseball caps. They’d finally found some protesters. They came roaring up the stairs; they were briefed; tasked to safeguard the guest. Fortunately, no guns. But they were very adrenalised upon entering the room. I told them: ‘Let’s keep this calm.’”
Stalling multiple police officers is a long time. It helped that they didn’t know which law to charge anyone. Upon finally entering the room, “a policeman started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, which another officer told him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three additional team members were then arrested for malicious communication, a stalking law. “and it’s very specific: its purpose is to address a serious offence. To throw it at an act of journalism, projected on to a wall, in defense of the reputation of the president, seemed against the spirit of the legislation,” Stewart remarks pointedly. While the others were detained, he melted into the crowd, shortly thereafter boarded a train out of Windsor, contacting legal counsel.
A Second Arrest and Questioning
Later in the middle of the night, as the detainees sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and re-arrested them, now for causing a public nuisance, having decided a stronger charge. When they came to be questioned, the sole available interrogators belonged to the child protection squad – a twist that was palpable, given the focus of the protest involved alleged sex offender. Knowles and his associates responded to all queries with: “No comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, police presented a photograph: “They asked, did you take the drawer from this nightstand?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Mr Knowles, do you know anybody else who may have had cause to take the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I knew what was coming: a picture of a large projector, secured to four drawers. At that point, the officers struggled to keep a straight face.”
The Final Result
A little more than a month later, all charges was dismissed.
