What Happened Next: The Evening Led By Donkeys Beamed Images of Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle
When plans were revealed for Donald Trump’s second state visit, including a Windsor Castle banquet on 17 September 2025, the protest group Led By Donkeys felt compelled not to let it pass unprotested. The gesture of offering a lavish welcome was viewed as especially servile. Their subsequent creative protest proceeded like clockwork.
A Deliberate Message
The group produced a short documentary exploring Donald Trump’s relationship with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. It concluded: “The commander-in-chief of the United States was a long-time close friend of America’s most notorious sex offender. He’s alleged to be referenced, numerous times, in the files from the criminal probe into that individual … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest in Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump maintains he ended his friendship with Epstein years before Epstein’s first arrest and has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.)
The Setup
The activists had booked rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with “castle view” and, more crucially, superior castle views, said group founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. To broadcast sound, Stewart placed a wireless speaker, hidden inside a cereal box, atop a public rubbish bin outside.
International press had gathered, staring at the castle, growing restless awaiting Trump's arrival. The film, however, gained traction globally. “Although the still pictures of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart says, “I doubt that convinces people of anything – it simply makes Trump uneasy. The film we made provides viewers something tangible to share, saying: ‘There’s something really serious to look at here.’ It was a piece of guerrilla journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed 20m times.”
The Moment of Projection
The film began with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “It requires a cylindrical building needs a little bit of mapping,” Stewart states. “So there’s the royal coat of arms. The police likely thought: ‘How pleasant – the royal family,’ and suddenly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein materializes. This electric jolt passed through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and they all pile into the hotel.”
A History of Activism
It wasn't the group’s first rodeo; nor was it their first effort against Trump. Back in 2018, while working for Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a paraglider near the resort where the then-president was staying in Scotland. A year later, police visited him that any repeat, his safety wasn't assured.
The Arrests
But, the group's creators were not especially worried about arrest. “All my anxiety is channelled into wanting the action to succeed,” notes Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “By the time the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” Officers was swift, reaching the hotel in under three minutes, highly agitated, Knowles recalls. “Wearing jumpsuits and caps. They’d finally found 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 had to say: ‘Let’s keep this really calm.’”
Stalling multiple police officers is a long time. It helped that officers didn’t know under what law to charge anyone. 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 because it wasn’t right.” Knowles and three other activists were subsequently detained for malicious communication, a stalking law. “The law is precise: 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. While the others were detained, he melted into the crowd, shortly thereafter boarded a train leaving Windsor, calling lawyers.
A Second Arrest and Questioning
Later in the middle of the night, as the detainees were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and arrested them again, this time for public nuisance, having decided more likely to succeed. When they came to be questioned, the sole available interrogators were from the child protection squad – a twist which was not lost on anyone, given the focus of the protest concerned alleged sex offender. The activists responded to all queries with: “I have no comment.” A few minutes into the interview, police presented a photo: “‘Mr Knowles, did you take the drawer from this bedside table?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Sir, do you know anybody else who may have had reason to remove the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I anticipated what was coming: a picture of a giant projector, secured to four drawers. Then, the detectives were finding it hard to keep a straight face.”
The Outcome
A little more than one month later, every charge was dismissed.
