🔗 Share this article The Unfolding Events: The Night Led By Donkeys Beamed Images of Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle When plans were revealed for the former president's upcoming official trip, complete with a royal dinner at Windsor on September 17th, 2025, the activist collective known as Led By Donkeys felt compelled to ensure it did not go unprotested. The act of offering a lavish welcome seemed particularly craven. Their next creative protest unfolded with precision. A Provocative Film The group produced a short documentary detailing the connections 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 sex offender. His name is said to be referenced, numerous times, in documents related to the investigation into that individual … Now that president, Donald Trump, is a guest in Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump has stated he fell out with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s initial legal troubles and has consistently denied any wrongdoing concerning Epstein.) The Setup The group had booked rooms in the nearby Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with “castle view” and, even more helpfully, superior castle views, said group founder, Ben Stewart. Their equipment included a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart positioned a Bluetooth speaker, concealed inside a cereal box, atop a public rubbish bin outside. International press was assembled, staring at the castle, growing restless awaiting Trump's arrival. Their film, spread rapidly everywhere. “While photographs of Epstein and Trump went viral online,” Stewart says, “I doubt that convinces people of anything – it just makes Trump uncomfortable. Our documentary provides viewers a social object to share, implying: ‘There’s 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 Reveal The film began with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto a cylindrical building needs a little bit of mapping,” Stewart explains. “So there’s the royal coat of arms. Officers are thinking: ‘How pleasant – a royal tribute,’ and then abruptly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein materializes. A wave of shock goes through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and the police all pile into the hotel.” A History of Activism It wasn't their inaugural action; nor was it their first action targeting Trump. Back in 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a paraglider near the hotel where the then-president was staying in Scotland. A year later, police visited him that if he tried again, they couldn’t guarantee. Confrontation with Police However, the activists were not especially worried about arrest. “All my anxiety goes into wanting the action to succeed,” notes Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “Once the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” The police response was rapid, arriving in the lobby in under three minutes, highly agitated, he remembers. “They were in tactical gear and baseball caps. They’d finally found the culprits. They charged up the stairs; prepared; they were on a mission to protect the president. Fortunately, no firearms. But they were extremely tense when they entered the room. I told them: ‘Let’s keep this calm.’” Stalling multiple police officers for six minutes. It helped that officers were unsure which law to make arrests. Upon finally entering the room, “a policeman started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, which another officer asked him to stop because it wasn’t right.” Knowles and three additional activists were subsequently detained for malicious communications, a stalking law. “The law is precise: it’s designed to deal with a really concerning offence. To throw it at a piece of journalism, projected on to a wall, to protect the reputation of the president, seemed contrary to the intent of the legislation,” Stewart remarks pointedly. As his colleagues were arrested, he melted into the crowd, shortly thereafter boarded a train out of Windsor, contacting legal counsel. An Ironic Interrogation Later in the middle of the night, as the detainees were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and re-arrested them, this time for public nuisance, deeming it a stronger charge. When they came to be questioned, the sole available interrogators were from the child protection unit – an irony which 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, the officers slid over a photo: “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 anticipated what was coming: an image of a giant projector, secured to four drawers. Then, the detectives were finding it hard to maintain their composure.” The Final Result Just over one month later, every charge was dismissed.
When plans were revealed for the former president's upcoming official trip, complete with a royal dinner at Windsor on September 17th, 2025, the activist collective known as Led By Donkeys felt compelled to ensure it did not go unprotested. The act of offering a lavish welcome seemed particularly craven. Their next creative protest unfolded with precision. A Provocative Film The group produced a short documentary detailing the connections 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 sex offender. His name is said to be referenced, numerous times, in documents related to the investigation into that individual … Now that president, Donald Trump, is a guest in Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump has stated he fell out with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s initial legal troubles and has consistently denied any wrongdoing concerning Epstein.) The Setup The group had booked rooms in the nearby Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with “castle view” and, even more helpfully, superior castle views, said group founder, Ben Stewart. Their equipment included a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart positioned a Bluetooth speaker, concealed inside a cereal box, atop a public rubbish bin outside. International press was assembled, staring at the castle, growing restless awaiting Trump's arrival. Their film, spread rapidly everywhere. “While photographs of Epstein and Trump went viral online,” Stewart says, “I doubt that convinces people of anything – it just makes Trump uncomfortable. Our documentary provides viewers a social object to share, implying: ‘There’s 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 Reveal The film began with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto a cylindrical building needs a little bit of mapping,” Stewart explains. “So there’s the royal coat of arms. Officers are thinking: ‘How pleasant – a royal tribute,’ and then abruptly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein materializes. A wave of shock goes through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and the police all pile into the hotel.” A History of Activism It wasn't their inaugural action; nor was it their first action targeting Trump. Back in 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a paraglider near the hotel where the then-president was staying in Scotland. A year later, police visited him that if he tried again, they couldn’t guarantee. Confrontation with Police However, the activists were not especially worried about arrest. “All my anxiety goes into wanting the action to succeed,” notes Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “Once the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” The police response was rapid, arriving in the lobby in under three minutes, highly agitated, he remembers. “They were in tactical gear and baseball caps. They’d finally found the culprits. They charged up the stairs; prepared; they were on a mission to protect the president. Fortunately, no firearms. But they were extremely tense when they entered the room. I told them: ‘Let’s keep this calm.’” Stalling multiple police officers for six minutes. It helped that officers were unsure which law to make arrests. Upon finally entering the room, “a policeman started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, which another officer asked him to stop because it wasn’t right.” Knowles and three additional activists were subsequently detained for malicious communications, a stalking law. “The law is precise: it’s designed to deal with a really concerning offence. To throw it at a piece of journalism, projected on to a wall, to protect the reputation of the president, seemed contrary to the intent of the legislation,” Stewart remarks pointedly. As his colleagues were arrested, he melted into the crowd, shortly thereafter boarded a train out of Windsor, contacting legal counsel. An Ironic Interrogation Later in the middle of the night, as the detainees were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and re-arrested them, this time for public nuisance, deeming it a stronger charge. When they came to be questioned, the sole available interrogators were from the child protection unit – an irony which 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, the officers slid over a photo: “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 anticipated what was coming: an image of a giant projector, secured to four drawers. Then, the detectives were finding it hard to maintain their composure.” The Final Result Just over one month later, every charge was dismissed.