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No further action will be taken against four men arrested in connection with projecting an image of Donald Trump and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on to Windsor Castle, police said.
The stunt during Trump’s unprecedented second state visit on 16 September by the political campaign group Led By Donkeys attempted to draw attention to the US president’s long friendship with Epstein.
A letter the US president allegedly sent to Epstein was also projected on to the castle, along with pictures of Epstein’s victims, news clips about the case and police reports.
A 60-year-old man from East Sussex, a 37-year-old man from Kent, and two men from London aged 36 and 50 were arrested on suspicion of “offences including malicious communications and public nuisance”.
But on Wednesday, Thames Valley police said the investigation had concluded and no further action would be taken.
A Led By Donkeys spokesperson said: “It’s good the police now accept it’s not illegal to project a film about Donald Trump’s close relationship with America’s most notorious child sex trafficker on to a wall.
“The fact they didn’t come to that obvious conclusion on the night makes it look suspiciously like political policing.
“We’re happy police resources can now be redirected to investigating Prince Andrew.”
Trump’s relationship with Epstein has come under renewed scrutiny in recent months after the release by US lawmakers of documents including an alleged letter from Trump to the disgraced financier to celebrate his 50th birthday.
The letter that was projected on to Windsor Castle contains text of a purported dialogue between Trump and Epstein in which Trump calls him a “pal” and says: “May every day be another wonderful secret.”
The text sits within a crude sketch of a silhouette of a naked woman. Trump had previously denied writing the letter and the White House denied its authenticity.
When the four men were originally arrested in September, Led By Donkeys described the move by police as “Orwellian” and “ridiculous” in response to “projecting a piece of journalism on a wall”.
They said it was the first time anyone from the group had been arrested for carrying out a projection. Led By Donkeys have become increasingly well known in recent years after prominent stunts mocking Liz Truss, Matt Hancock and Michelle Mone.
