Four people were arrested on Tuesday following a projection of images of Donald Trump alongside sex offender Jeffrey Epstein onto the royal Windsor Castle, where the US president is set to be hosted by King Charles during his state visit to Britain.
Mr Trump arrived in Britain late on Tuesday for an unprecedented second state visit. He is scheduled to be greeted by the king on Wednesday for a day of pomp at the castle, about 40km west of London.
On Tuesday, protesters unfurled a massive banner featuring a photograph of Mr Trump and Epstein near Windsor Castle. Later in the day, several images of the two were projected onto one of the castle’s towers.
The police said in a statement that four adults were arrested on suspicion of malicious communications following an “unauthorised projection” at Windsor Castle. They described the projection as a “public stunt”. The four remain in custody.
On September 8th, Democrats in the US House of Representatives made public a birthday letter Mr Trump allegedly wrote to Epstein more than 20 years ago. The White House has denied its authenticity.
The letter was also projected on to the castle, along with pictures of Epstein’s victims, news clips about the case and police reports.
The release of the letter has brought renewed attention to an issue that has become a political thorn in the US president’s side.
Though he has urged his supporters to move on from the topic, appetite for details about Epstein’s crimes and who else may have known about them or been involved with him has remained high.
Mr Trump was friends with Epstein before becoming president, but he had a falling out with the former financier years before his 2019 death in prison.
The birthday letter contained text of a purported dialogue between Mr Trump and Epstein in which Mr Trump calls him a “pal” and says, “May every day be another wonderful secret”.
The text sits within a crude sketch of the silhouette of a naked woman. – Reuters
