Arrests over projection of Trump and Epstein images onto Windsor ‘ridiculous’

The arrests of four people after images of US president Donald Trump and paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein were projected onto Windsor Castle was a “ridiculous overreaction”, a campaign group has said.

A 60-year-old man from East Sussex, a 36-year-old man from London, a 37-year-old man from Kent and a 50-year-old man from London were arrested on suspicion of malicious communications on Tuesday night following the public stunt at the Berkshire royal residence, Thames Valley Police (TVP) said.

The nine-minutes-long film created by British political campaign group Led By Donkeys went over the history of Mr Trump’s links to Epstein, including the recent release by US legislators of a tranche of documents said to include a letter from the president to Epstein to celebrate his 50th birthday.

The film was projected from a hotel room with a direct view over the castle as an act of “peaceful protest”, a spokesperson for the campaign group said.

“My colleagues were arrested for malicious communications, which seems ridiculous, because we’ve done 25 or 30 projections before, no-one’s ever been arrested,” the spokesperson told the PA news agency on Wednesday.

“In fact, sometimes the police have just watched while we’ve done it.

“So suddenly, because it’s Trump, you get this reaction, which is surprising, disappointing and very heavy-handed from police.

“I think they’ve been arrested for embarrassing Donald Trump,” the spokesperson added.

“It’s because Donald Trump’s got a very thin skin. They’re protecting his ego.”

The King is to host the US president and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, at Windsor Castle from September 17 to 19, where they will be feted with a ceremonial welcome and state banquet.

A 24-hours-a-day policing operation is in place in the Berkshire town during the event, with a temporary order restricting the airspace until September 18.

But the campaign group argued they planned the stunt over weeks and took steps to avoid alarming police officers on the streets of Windsor.

“We deliberately did it just before he arrived, so that the police wouldn’t be concerned for his (Donald Trump’s) safety,” the spokesperson said.

“We’ve had legal advice before. There’s nothing illegal about this.

“No laws are broken, nobody’s hurt, no property was damaged, and yet – look at the reaction.

“So it’s just a ridiculous over-reaction.”

The spokesperson said the planning began when the dates for the state visit were announced in July.

Campaigners brought their projector to the hotel room inside luxury luggage and set it up over Monday and Tuesday, the spokesperson said.

They then opened the windows and first projected an image of the royal crest onto Windsor Castle to map out the space and ensure their images would fit before rolling out the film.

“At that point, there was a sort of electric reaction from the police,” the spokesperson said.

“They were outside the room seven minutes later, but the film was nine minutes long, so we managed to finish the film.”

The four people arrested on Tuesday remain in custody, TVP said on Wednesday.

The Led by Donkeys spokesperson said they hoped their colleagues would soon be released without charge.

“People say they want to see peaceful protests, but what can be more peaceful than legally hiring a hotel room and project images onto a wall?” the spokesperson said.

“It’s a fact-based piece of journalism that we put up on there.

“So how could it be malicious communications?

“The only malicious thing is Trump’s relationship with Epstein.

“Trump’s coming here for a second state visit, an unprecedented honour.

“And we just wanted to point at the elephant in the room, which is he had an extremely close relationship with America’s most notorious child sex trafficker.”

Chief Superintendent Felicity Parker, from TVP, said: “We take any unauthorised activity around Windsor Castle extremely seriously.

“Our officers responded swiftly to stop the projection and four people have been arrested.

“We are conducting a thorough investigation with our partners into the circumstances surrounding this incident and will provide further updates when we are in a position to do so.”