🔗 Share this article What Happened Next: The Evening Led By Donkeys Beamed Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle When plans were revealed for Donald Trump’s upcoming official trip, complete with a royal dinner at Windsor on September 17th, 2025, the protest group 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 Provocative Film The group produced a short documentary detailing the connections with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. Its ending stated: “The commander-in-chief 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 mentioned, repeatedly, in the files from the investigation into Epstein … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest within Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump maintains he ended his friendship with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s first arrest and repeatedly refuted all allegations concerning Epstein.) The Setup The activists had booked 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 high-lumen 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart positioned a Bluetooth speaker, hidden within a box of cereal, atop a public rubbish bin outside. The world’s media was assembled, their gaze fixed at the castle, becoming bored awaiting Trump's arrival. Their film, gained traction globally. “While photographs 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 a social object to share, implying: ‘There’s something significant to look at here.’ We took an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed 20m times.” The Moment of Projection It started with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto the castle's round tower requires some technical calibration,” Stewart states. “So there’s this royal crest. The police likely thought: ‘Ah, that’s nice – the royal family,’ and suddenly a great big picture of Jeffrey Epstein materializes. A wave of shock passed through the officers nearby, and they raced into the hotel.” A History of Activism This was not their inaugural action; it wasn’t even their first effort targeting Trump. In 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a motorized paraglider near the hotel where the president was staying in Scotland. The following year, officers warned him that if he tried again, they couldn’t guarantee. Confrontation with Police However, the activists weren't especially worried about arrest. “All my anxiety goes into wanting the action to succeed,” notes Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “By the time the police make the intervention, the message is already out.” Officers was rapid, arriving in the lobby in under three minutes, highly agitated, he remembers. “Wearing jumpsuits and caps. They had located the culprits. They charged up the stairs; they were briefed; they were on a mission to protect the president. Fortunately, no firearms. But they were very adrenalised when they entered the room. I told them: ‘Let’s keep this really calm.’” Stalling multiple police officers for six minutes. It helped that officers didn’t know which law to make arrests. When they finally entered the room, “a policeman started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another told him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three additional team members were subsequently detained for malicious communication, a stalking law. “The law is precise: it’s designed to address a serious offence. To throw it at a piece of journalism, displayed on 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 slipped away, then soon after boarded a train out of Windsor, contacting legal counsel. An Ironic Interrogation Later that night, as the detainees sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and re-arrested them, this time for public nuisance, deeming it more likely to succeed. During interrogation, the sole available interrogators were from the child protection unit – an irony that was palpable, given the focus of the protest concerned alleged sex offender. The activists responded to all queries with: “No comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, police presented a photo: “They asked, did you remove 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 knew what was coming: a picture of a large projector, ratchet-strapped to several drawers. Then, the officers struggled to keep a straight face.” The Final Result Just over one month later, every charge were dropped.
When plans were revealed for Donald Trump’s upcoming official trip, complete with a royal dinner at Windsor on September 17th, 2025, the protest group 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 Provocative Film The group produced a short documentary detailing the connections with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. Its ending stated: “The commander-in-chief 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 mentioned, repeatedly, in the files from the investigation into Epstein … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest within Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump maintains he ended his friendship with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s first arrest and repeatedly refuted all allegations concerning Epstein.) The Setup The activists had booked 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 high-lumen 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart positioned a Bluetooth speaker, hidden within a box of cereal, atop a public rubbish bin outside. The world’s media was assembled, their gaze fixed at the castle, becoming bored awaiting Trump's arrival. Their film, gained traction globally. “While photographs 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 a social object to share, implying: ‘There’s something significant to look at here.’ We took an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed 20m times.” The Moment of Projection It started with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto the castle's round tower requires some technical calibration,” Stewart states. “So there’s this royal crest. The police likely thought: ‘Ah, that’s nice – the royal family,’ and suddenly a great big picture of Jeffrey Epstein materializes. A wave of shock passed through the officers nearby, and they raced into the hotel.” A History of Activism This was not their inaugural action; it wasn’t even their first effort targeting Trump. In 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a motorized paraglider near the hotel where the president was staying in Scotland. The following year, officers warned him that if he tried again, they couldn’t guarantee. Confrontation with Police However, the activists weren't especially worried about arrest. “All my anxiety goes into wanting the action to succeed,” notes Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “By the time the police make the intervention, the message is already out.” Officers was rapid, arriving in the lobby in under three minutes, highly agitated, he remembers. “Wearing jumpsuits and caps. They had located the culprits. They charged up the stairs; they were briefed; they were on a mission to protect the president. Fortunately, no firearms. But they were very adrenalised when they entered the room. I told them: ‘Let’s keep this really calm.’” Stalling multiple police officers for six minutes. It helped that officers didn’t know which law to make arrests. When they finally entered the room, “a policeman started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another told him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three additional team members were subsequently detained for malicious communication, a stalking law. “The law is precise: it’s designed to address a serious offence. To throw it at a piece of journalism, displayed on 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 slipped away, then soon after boarded a train out of Windsor, contacting legal counsel. An Ironic Interrogation Later that night, as the detainees sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and re-arrested them, this time for public nuisance, deeming it more likely to succeed. During interrogation, the sole available interrogators were from the child protection unit – an irony that was palpable, given the focus of the protest concerned alleged sex offender. The activists responded to all queries with: “No comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, police presented a photo: “They asked, did you remove 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 knew what was coming: a picture of a large projector, ratchet-strapped to several drawers. Then, the officers struggled to keep a straight face.” The Final Result Just over one month later, every charge were dropped.