What Happened Next: The Evening Led By Donkeys Beamed Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein on to Windsor Castle

When plans were revealed for the former president's upcoming official trip, complete with a Windsor Castle banquet on September 17th, 2025, the protest group known as Led By Donkeys was determined not to let it pass without a statement. The act of rolling out the red carpet was viewed as especially servile. Their next creative protest proceeded with precision.

A Deliberate Message

The group produced a short documentary exploring Donald Trump’s relationship 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 America’s most notorious child sex trafficker. He’s alleged to be referenced, repeatedly, in the files related to the criminal probe into that individual … And now that president, Donald Trump, is a guest in Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump has stated he ended his friendship with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s initial legal troubles and has consistently denied any wrongdoing concerning Epstein.)

Preparations and Execution

The activists had secured rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, which boast views of the castle and, even more helpfully, superior castle views, according to a co-founder, Ben Stewart. Their equipment included a high-lumen 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart positioned a wireless speaker, hidden within a box of cereal, atop a public rubbish bin outside.

International press had gathered, staring at the castle, growing restless as Trump was delayed. Their film, spread rapidly globally. “Although the still pictures of Epstein and Trump went viral online,” Stewart notes, “I doubt that persuades anyone of anything – it simply makes Trump uneasy. Our documentary provides viewers a social object to share, saying: ‘This is something significant to examine 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 official Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto a cylindrical building requires some technical calibration,” Stewart states. “First appeared the royal coat of arms. Officers likely thought: ‘How pleasant – the royal family,’ and then abruptly a great big picture of Jeffrey Epstein appears. This electric jolt passed through the police in fluorescent jackets nearby, and the police raced into the hotel.”

Not Their First Protest

It wasn't the group’s first rodeo; nor was it their first effort against Trump. In 2018, while working for Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a paraglider over the resort where the then-president was staying in Scotland. The following year, police visited him that if he tried again, they couldn’t guarantee.

The Arrests

But, the group's creators weren't overly concerned about arrest. “My nervous energy is channelled into ensuring the action to succeed,” says Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “By the time the police arrive, the message is already out.” Officers was swift, 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; 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 had to say: ‘We should keep this really calm.’”

Delaying multiple police officers is a long time. It helped that they didn’t know under what law to charge anyone. When they finally entered the room, “a policeman started reading a clause of the Town and Country Planning Act, which another officer asked him to stop because it wasn’t right.” Knowles and three other team members were subsequently detained for malicious communications, a law related to harassment. “The law is precise: it’s designed to deal with a really concerning offence. Applying it to an act of journalism, displayed on a wall, in defense of the reputation of the president, seemed against the spirit of the legislation,” Stewart says archly. As his colleagues were arrested, he slipped away, then soon after was on a train leaving Windsor, calling lawyers.

A Second Arrest and Questioning

Later that night, as the detainees sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and re-arrested them, now for public nuisance, deeming it more likely to succeed. When they came to be questioned, the sole available interrogators belonged to the child protection unit – an irony that was palpable, given the focus of the protest concerned Jeffrey Epstein. Knowles and his associates just answered all queries with: “No comment.” A few minutes into the interview, the officers slid over a photo: “They asked, did you take the drawer from this nightstand?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Sir, do you know anyone who may have had cause to take the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I anticipated what was coming: a picture of a large projector, secured to four drawers. Then, the officers struggled to keep a straight face.”

The Outcome

A little more than one month later, every charge were dropped.