The Unfolding Events: The Night Led By Donkeys Projected Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein on to Windsor Castle
When plans were revealed for Donald Trump’s upcoming official trip, complete with a royal dinner at Windsor on 17 September 2025, the protest group Led By Donkeys was determined not to let it pass unprotested. The act of rolling out the red carpet seemed especially servile. Their next creative protest proceeded like clockwork.
A Provocative Film
The group produced a nine-minute film exploring the connections with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. It concluded: “The commander-in-chief of the United States was a long-time close friend of the nation's most infamous sex offender. He’s alleged to be referenced, numerous times, in documents from the investigation into that individual … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is sleeping here within Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump has stated he fell out with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s initial legal troubles and repeatedly refuted all allegations in relation to Epstein.)
Preparations and Execution
The activists had booked rooms in the nearby Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with “castle view” and, even more helpfully, superior castle views, according to group founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a high-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart placed a Bluetooth speaker, hidden within a box of cereal, on top of a garbage can outside.
International press was assembled, their gaze fixed at the castle, growing restless awaiting Trump's arrival. The film, however, gained traction globally. “While photographs of Epstein and Trump went viral online,” Stewart notes, “I’m not sure that persuades anyone of anything – it just makes Trump uneasy. Our documentary provides viewers a social object to share, saying: ‘There’s something really serious to examine here.’ It was an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed by millions.”
The Moment of Projection
The film began with the official Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto the castle's round tower requires some technical calibration,” Stewart states. “So there’s this royal crest. Officers likely thought: ‘Ah, that’s nice – a royal tribute,’ and suddenly a great big picture of Jeffrey Epstein appears. This electric jolt goes through the officers nearby, and the police all pile into the hotel.”
Not Their First Protest
This was not their inaugural action; nor was it their first action targeting Trump. In 2018, while working for Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a motorized paraglider near the hotel where the president was staying in Scotland. A year later, police visited him that any repeat, they couldn’t guarantee.
The Arrests
However, the activists weren't overly concerned about detainment. “My nervous energy goes into ensuring the protest works,” says Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “Once the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” The police response was swift, arriving in the lobby in under three minutes, highly agitated, Knowles recalls. “Wearing tactical gear and baseball caps. They’d finally found the culprits. They charged up the stairs; they were briefed; tasked to protect the president. Thankfully, no firearms. But they were very adrenalised upon entering the room. I told them: ‘Let’s keep this really calm.’”
Stalling a large number of police officers for six minutes. It helped that they were unsure which law to charge anyone. Upon finally entering the room, “one officer began reciting a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another told him to stop because it wasn’t right.” Knowles and three additional team members were then arrested for malicious communications, a law related to harassment. “and it’s very specific: its purpose is to address a serious offence. Applying it to an act of journalism, projected on to a wall, to protect the reputation of the president, seemed contrary to the intent of the legislation,” Stewart says archly. While the others were detained, he slipped away, shortly thereafter boarded a train out of Windsor, contacting legal counsel.
An Ironic Interrogation
Later that night, while the activists were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and arrested them again, this time for public nuisance, deeming it more likely to succeed. When they came to be questioned, the only officers available belonged to the child protection squad – an irony that was not lost on anyone, given the subject matter of the protest involved alleged sex offender. Knowles and his associates just answered all queries with: “No comment.” A few minutes into the interview, the officers slid over a photograph: “‘Mr Knowles, did you remove the drawer from this nightstand?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Sir, do you know anyone who may have had reason to remove the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I anticipated what was coming: a picture of a large projector, ratchet-strapped to four drawers. Then, the officers struggled to keep a straight face.”
The Outcome
A little more than a month later, all charges was dismissed.
