The Aftermath: The Night Led By Donkeys Beamed Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein on to Windsor Castle
When plans were revealed for the former president's second state visit, including a Windsor Castle banquet on 17 September 2025, the protest group known as Led By Donkeys felt compelled not to let it pass without a statement. The act of offering a lavish welcome seemed particularly craven. Their next art-activist event unfolded like clockwork.
A Provocative Film
The group produced a nine-minute film exploring the connections with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. It concluded: “The president of the United States is alleged to have been a long-time close friend of the nation's most infamous child sex trafficker. His name is said to be referenced, repeatedly, in the files from the investigation into Epstein … And now that very man, Donald Trump, is sleeping here in Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump has stated he fell out with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s first arrest and repeatedly refuted all allegations in relation to Epstein.)
The Setup
The group had secured rooms in the nearby Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with views of the castle and, more crucially, superior castle views, said a co-founder, Ben Stewart. Their equipment included a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart positioned a wireless speaker, hidden inside a cereal box, on top of a public rubbish bin outside.
International press had gathered, staring at the castle, becoming bored awaiting Trump's arrival. Their film, gained traction globally. “Although photographs of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart notes, “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 really serious to look at here.’ It was a piece of guerrilla journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed by millions.”
The Moment of Projection
It started with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “It requires a cylindrical building needs some technical calibration,” Stewart explains. “So there’s this royal crest. Officers are thinking: ‘Ah, that’s nice – a royal tribute,’ and suddenly a great big picture of Jeffrey Epstein appears. This electric jolt passed through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and they raced into the hotel.”
Not Their First Protest
This was not the group’s first rodeo; it wasn’t even their first action targeting Trump. Back in 2018, while working for Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a motorized paraglider over the hotel where the then-president was staying in Scotland. The following year, police visited him that if he tried again, his safety wasn't assured.
The Arrests
However, the group's creators were not especially worried about arrest. “My nervous energy goes into wanting the action to succeed,” notes Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “Once the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” Officers was rapid, reaching the hotel within three minutes, “really pumped up”, he remembers. “They were in tactical gear and baseball caps. They had located the culprits. They charged up the stairs; prepared; they were on a mission to protect the president. Fortunately, no guns. But they were very adrenalised upon entering the room. I told them: ‘Let’s keep this calm.’”
Delaying multiple police officers for six minutes. The fact that officers didn’t know which law to make arrests. Upon finally entering the room, “one officer started reading a clause of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another told him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three other team members were then arrested for malicious communications, a law related to harassment. “and it’s very specific: it’s designed to address a really concerning offence. Applying it to a piece of journalism, displayed on a wall, to protect the reputation of the president, appeared contrary to the intent of the legislation,” Stewart says archly. As his colleagues were arrested, he slipped away, shortly thereafter was on a train leaving Windsor, calling lawyers.
A Second Arrest and Questioning
Later in the middle of the night, while the activists were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and re-arrested them, this time for public nuisance, having decided more likely to succeed. When they came to be questioned, the sole available interrogators belonged to the child protection squad – an irony which was palpable, given the focus of the protest involved Jeffrey Epstein. The activists just answered all queries with: “No comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, police presented a photograph: “‘Mr Knowles, did you remove 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 knew what was coming: a picture of a large projector, secured to four drawers. At that point, the officers were finding it hard to maintain their composure.”
The Outcome
A little more than a month later, every charge were dropped.
