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Federal agents have frequently used so-called “less-lethal” weapons against protesters, including impact projectiles, tear gas and pepper spray, since the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration raids began last year. 

The use of less-lethal weapons (LLWs) has been controversial. While designed to incapacitate or control a person without causing death or permanent injury, they can cause serious or fatal injuries, especially when used improperly. 

Earlier this month, two protesters in California were reportedly blinded after US federal agents fired less-lethal rounds at their faces from close range. These incidents were part of a wave of violent clashes between agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and protesters across the country after the deadly shooting of US citizen Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis. 

In protests in Minneapolis immediately following Good’s death, one Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officer was captured on camera firing a 40mm less-lethal launcher five times in less than five minutes, with several of these shots appearing to target protesters’ faces, which is against CBP’s own use-of-force policy. 

A Bellingcat investigation of DHS incidents in October 2025 also found about 30 incidents that appeared to violate a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by an Illinois judge restricting how DHS agents could use LLWs.

It is not always obvious whether the use of a LLW is authorised or not, as DHS component agencies such as ICE and CBP have varying guidance on factors such as the level of resistance an individual needs to show before a certain type of force can be used, as well as how specific types of less-lethal weapons and munitions can be used. 

While CBP’s use-of-force policy as of January 2021 is available on its website, ICE does not include specific guidance on less-lethal weapons in its 2023 “Firearms and Use of Force” Directive, and does not appear to have any publicly available policy that outlines this guidance.

DHS did not respond by publication time to Bellingcat’s request for the most recent DHS, CBP and ICE use-of-force policies, or to questions about what less-lethal weapons were authorised for use by the department and its component agencies. 

The DHS use-of-force policy, updated in February 2023, states that the department’s law enforcement officers and agents may use force, including LLWs, “only when no reasonably effective, safe and feasible alternative appears to exist”. It also says agents may only use a level of force that is “objectively reasonable in light of the facts and circumstances” that they face at the time.

DHS has repeatedly defended its use of riot-control weapons in protests across the country, stating that it was “taking reasonable and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect [its] officers”. 

Here’s how to identify some of the less-lethal weapons that DHS agents, including those from ICE and CBP, have been seen using during recent immigration operations. 

Compressed Air Launchers or ‘PepperBall Guns’

Compressed air, or pneumatic launchers, are essentially paintball guns that fire 0.68mm balls which break on impact. Often, this releases a powdered chemical irritant such as oleoresin capsicum (OC) or PavaPowder – the same compounds typically found in pepper spray. 

Compressed air launchers can also be used with other projectiles, such as “marking” projectiles that use paint to mark an individual for later arrest, and projectiles intended to break glass.

These weapons are often referred to as “PepperBall” guns, named after the leading brand PepperBall. However, DHS agents have also been seen carrying compressed air launchers from different brands, such as the FN303, produced by FN America.

Many compressed air launchers resemble standard paintball guns, with a distinct hopper or loader, which holds the ball projectiles, mounted to the top. They also have a compressed air tank that might be mounted to the side, bottom, or inside the buttstock (or back) of the weapon.

Many compressed air launchers, and less-lethal weapons in general, have very bright colours such as orange to distinguish them from lethal weapons. 

However, some compressed air launchers require closer scrutiny to distinguish them from firearms. 

For example, federal agents have been seen carrying FN303 compressed air launchers in videos of immigration enforcement activities. This weapon may resemble a rifle or other firearm, as it is usually all-black and, unlike the TAC-SF series PepperBall guns, lacks a visible hopper. 

If closer examination is possible, this weapon can be identified by its distinct features, including a circular magazine, side-mounted compressed air tank and a hose connecting the firearm to the air tank.

The January 2021 CBP Use of Force Policy places several restrictions on the use of compressed air launchers, including that they should not be used against small children, the elderly, visibly pregnant women, or people operating a vehicle. It also states that PepperBall guns should not be used within 3 feet “unless the use of deadly force is reasonable and necessary”. When using the FN303, the minimum distance is increased to 10 feet. 

The CBP Use of Force Policy says that the intentional targeting of areas where there is a “substantial risk of serious bodily injury or death is considered a use of deadly force.” Agents are instructed not to target “the head, neck, spine, or groin of the intended subject, unless the use of deadly force is reasonable”. PepperBall and FN America provide similar warnings about avoiding vital areas to prevent serious injury or death.

According to a 2021 report by the US Office of Inspector General, CBP requires its agents to recertify their training to use PepperBall guns and FN303s every year, but ICE does not.   

40mm Launchers

DHS agents also use 40mm launchers to fire “Less-Lethal Specialist Impact and Chemical Munitions (LLSI-CM)”. These launchers resemble military grenade launchers, but are used to fire less-lethal ammunition, including “sponge” rounds that can disperse chemical irritants on impact. 

Federal agents have been seen using or carrying the B&T GL06 launcher in footage of multiple incidents reviewed by Bellingcat. They have also been spotted with other 40mm launchers, including Penn Arms 40mm multi-shot launchers, which have a six-round cylinder magazine. 

There are various less-lethal munitions available for 40mm launchers, including those whose primary function is “pain compliance” through the force of impact, chemical irritants or a combination of both. 

Videos of clashes between Border Patrol agents and protesters show these launchers being used with combination rounds designed to hit the target for pain compliance while also delivering a chemical irritant such as OC or CS. 

Other munitions dispense chemical irritants or smoke after being launched. For example, in the protests immediately following Good’s death, a Border Patrol agent was seen firing a 40mm munition that released multiple projectiles emitting chemical irritants in a single shot, consistent with the “SKAT Shell” by Defense Technology.

Defense Technology’s technical specifications for its 40mm Direct Impact Rounds, which agents have been seen armed with, state that the munitions are considered less-lethal when fired at a minimum safe range of 5 feet and at the large muscle groups of the buttocks, thigh and knees, which “provide sufficient pain stimulus, while greatly reducing serious or life-threatening injuries”.

A DHS Office of Inspector General Report in 2021 noted varying guidance on the use of 40mm launchers among the department’s component agencies: “ICE’s use of force policy indicates that the 40MM launcher is deadly force when fired at someone, while the CBP use of force policy only directs officers not to target a person’s head or neck.”

CBP’s 2021 use-of-force policy states that agents should “not intentionally target the head, neck, groin, spine, or female breast”, and that anyone in custody who has been subject to such munitions should be seen by a medical professional “as soon as practicable”.

As of publication, DHS had not replied to Bellingcat’s questions about whether the department had an internal policy or provided training to staff on the minimum safe distance for 40mm less-lethal launchers as recommended by the manufacturers.

Hand-Thrown Munitions

DHS agents have also been seen throwing some less-lethal munitions, such as flash-bangs, smoke and “tear gas” grenades or canisters by hand. 

These munitions activate a short delay after the grenade is employed. When they activate, flash-bangs or “stun” grenades emit a bright flash of light and a loud sound that is designed to disorient targets. Both smoke grenades and tear gas (also known as “CS gas” or “OC gas”) emit thick smoke, but the former just impedes visibility, whereas the latter also contains chemical irritants that sting the eyes. 

Defense Technology offers smoke grenades with hexachloroethane smoke composition, but most of their smoke grenades use “SAF-Smoke”, a less toxic terephthalic acid smoke composition. 

Hexachloroethane, while toxic, is not a nerve agent, despite misinformation surrounding the deployment of green colored smoke grenades in Minnesota by DHS personnel. 

The shape and general construction, colour, and any text can help identify these munitions.

Less-lethal munitions typically feature the manufacturer’s logo, the model name of the munition, and the model or part number. The text and manufacturer logo are typically colour-coded to indicate the type of payload the munition has, with blue indicating CS, orange indicating OC, yellow indicating smoke, green indicating a marking composition and black indicating munitions with no chemical payload. 

A 2021 analysis by Bellingcat and Newsy found that Defense Technology and Combined Tactical Systems, the two manufacturers which produce most of the less-lethal munitions used by federal agents, both list the model numbers of their products online. Publicly available price lists for Defense Technology and Combined Tactical Systems can also be used to identify specific munitions by their model numbers. 

CBP’s 2021 use-of-force policy states that hand-thrown munitions are subject to the same restrictions for use as munition launcher-fired impact and chemical munitions. 

Chemical Irritant Sprays

DHS agents have also been using handheld chemical irritant sprays, often colloquially referred to as “pepper spray” or “mace”.

These sprays come in a variety of sizes and concentrations containing CS, OC, or both. Sprays used by law enforcement usually have a canister size designated “MK-” followed by a number, with higher numbers indicating larger canister sizes. The concentration of chemical irritants contained in the spray is also indicated on the canister.

The effectiveness of OC sprays is determined by the concentration of major capsaicinoids, which are the active compounds in OC that cause irritation. These sprays are also affected by the type of aerosol dispersion, or stream, used. Different types of streams increase or decrease the range of the spray as well as the coverage area. 

Civilian and law enforcement sprays range from 0.18 percent to 1.33 percent major capsaicinoids, according to SABRE, a producer of law enforcement and civilian sprays. Civilian sprays in the US can have the same major capsaicinoid content as law enforcement sprays, but are restricted to smaller-sized canisters. 

Defense Technology sprays have different colour bands to indicate the percentage of major capsaicinoids in the spray for OC. If the spray is CS, the CS concentration is standardised at 2 percent. The company uses a white band for .2 percent, yellow band for .4 percent, orange band for .7 percent, red band for 1.3 percent and a grey band for sprays containing either CS or a combination of OC and CS.

SABRE sells a variety of concentrations and sprays as law enforcement products, including 0.33 percent, 0.67 percent, and 1.33 percent major capsaicinoid concentrations of OC, as well as CS, and combination CS and OC sprays. The specific concentrations of SABRE sprays and the type of stream can also be identified by the text on the canister. 

One Air Force Research Laboratory study found that some sprays may pose a significant risk of severe eye damage due to pressure injuries resulting from large aerosol droplets hitting the eye. 

Defense Technology’s technical specifications recommend a minimum distance of between 3 and 6 feet, depending on the specific spray. SABRE does not publicly provide their minimum safe deployment distances, but a Mesa Police Department document lists a minimum distance of six feet for the SABRE Red MK-9. CBP’s 2021 use-of-force policy does not provide any minimum use distances. 

CBP’s 2021 use-of-force policy states that OC Spray may only be used on individuals offering “active resistance”, and that it should not be used on “small children; visibly pregnant; and operators of motor vehicles”. 

Electronic Control Weapons

DHS agents have also been seen using electronic control weapons (ECWs), which are colloquially called TASERs after the original weapon invented for law enforcement use, in immigration-related raids. 

ECWs can deliver a shock upon direct contact or launch probes that embed in the targeted person, incapacitating them. 

A shock on contact, or a “drive-stun” feature, delivers localised pain while in direct contact. When properly deployed, the probes send signals to the body that cause muscles to contract. A person’s body “locking up” from muscle contractions is an indicator that an ECW has been deployed. ECWs may be capable of using either or both methods.

ECWs are typically painted a combination of black and bright yellow, but this varies between models. The bright colour of parts of tasers is a common feature to help distinguish an ECW from handguns used by federal agents. When viewed from the front, a circular gun barrel is visible on handguns, while ECWs feature multiple circular probes or rectangular covers on the cartridge. ECWs also usually have flashlights and lasers, although handguns may also be equipped with these features. Some ECWs may make audible sounds when armed or deployed.

Axon, the predominant manufacturer of ECWs, produces several models including the TASER 10 and TASER 7. Axon provides a policy guide on recommended use of its TASER models to law enforcement agencies, which recommends targeting below the neck from behind, or the lower torso from the front. It recommends avoiding sensitive areas including the head, face, throat, chest and groin. 

Axon also recommends against using ECWs against small children, the elderly, pregnant people, very thin people and individuals in positions of increased risks such as running, operating a motor vehicle, or in an elevated position “unless the situation justifies an increased risk”.

CBP’s 2021 use-of-force policy, in addition to restricting the use of ECWs against small children, the elderly, visibly pregnant women, and people operating a vehicle, states that they should not be used against someone who is running or handcuffed. However, the policy does state that there may be an exception to the rule against using ECWs on a running person if an agent has a “reasonable belief that the subject presents an imminent threat of injury” to an agent or another person. This threat, according to the policy, must “outweigh the risk of injury to the subject that might occur as a result of an uncontrolled fall while the subject is running”.

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On January 24, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System, was shot and killed by federal agents on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The shooting comes just over two weeks after Renee Good was shot and killed by a federal agent in the same city. 

The United States Department of Homeland Security claimed Pretti was killed after an “armed struggle” with DHS officers and that it seemed he had wanted to “do maximum damage”. Yet video footage shared online, showing shortly before and during the incident, appears to contradict that claim.

Some of the earliest available footage of the encounter was posted to Instagram and shows an agent crossing the street to talk to Pretti who appears to be filming with his phone, which he is holding in his right hand. According to DHS, agents were conducting an immigration arrest in the area. 

The agent can be seen placing his hand on Pretti’s torso to push him back and away from the middle of the road towards the sidewalk. 

Another video shared on Reddit shows what happened after this initial contact, as well as the lead-up to the shooting. Pretti appears to put himself between two women after they were both shoved by a DHS agent. He is holding a cellphone, held sideways in his right hand.

An agent can then be seen spraying Pretti with a substance from a canister, and continuing to spray him as he turns his back to him. At least five additional federal agents approach and attempt to force Pretti to the ground while one appears to strike him with a spray can. 

Twenty-five seconds after Pretti is first sprayed, a shot is heard followed by nine more shots in the span of about six seconds. Additional video from the scene shows Pretti lying motionless on the ground.

Video Analysis

Bellingcat further analysed the Reddit video, a separate video posted to Facebook and others taken at the scene to break down the key moments of the shooting, splicing them together (see Bluesky post below) to view in more granular detail.

We’ve placed the available videos of the shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis today into the same synchronised timeline and are continuing to analyse further.

[image or embed]

— Bellingcat (@bellingcat.com) 24 January 2026 at 20:39

Closer inspection of the videos shows that an agent appears to remove a weapon from the melee before the first shots are fired. 

In both the Reddit and Facebook video, a federal agent wearing a grey jacket can be seen approaching federal agents who are on top of and struggling with Pretti. Notably, the agent’s hands are empty as he approaches. He can be seen reaching into and rummaging amid the bodies. About twelve seconds later, he is seen carrying a handgun away from the scene. 

Another video, also posted to Reddit, shows the agent removing a gun from a holster in Pretti’s waistband before he is shot.

Several aspects of the gun the federal agent is seen moving away with appear to match the gun DHS claim belonged to Pretti (and which they posted to X), a Sig Sauer P320, chambered in 9mm. Some posts online mistakenly claimed the photo of the gun was old due to a misunderstanding of Google Reverse Image Search.

While some law enforcement agencies issue Sig Sauer P320 guns to their agents, the gun that DHS claims Pretti had is customized, and visually distinct from those that are standard issue. 

These distinct features include a white pistol grip, black pistol frame, brown slide, and a red dot sight mounted atop the slide. The red dot sight and these various colours are visible on the gun the federal agent is seen leaving with.

Before the agent who takes the gun leaves the scene, it appears someone shouts “gun”, as can be heard in this video that was posted to X, and another video posted to Reddit. 

This Reddit video also shows that almost immediately after the agent in the grey jacket leaves with the gun, a single gunshot can be heard, followed by nine other shots.

Slowing it down, the same video shows that as the federal agent in the grey jacket removes Pretti’s gun, an agent in a black beanie, who appears to have a line of sight on the gun being removed, begins to draw his own weapon. As soon as the agent in the grey jacket moves away with the gun and leaves, the agent in the black beanie steps to where the agent in the grey jacket had been with his finger on the trigger and fires the first shot. 

Two agents appear to fire their weapons from the footage available, one wearing a black beanie and another wearing a brown beanie, as can be seen in this video.

At the same time as the first shot is fired, the agent in the grey jacket is leaving with the gun taken from Pretti’s holster. An alternate angle appears shows that the slide of this firearm does not move to the rear. This would indicate that it was not fired. Multiple agents, including the agent in the grey jacket, look towards the man in the black beanie immediately after the first shot. Despite some online speculation, there is as yet no evidence that Pretti’s gun was fired.

Bellingcat synced and slowed three videos to show where the agent in the black beanie, and grey jacket, with both drawn guns are when the first shot occurs. What some commenters have suggested is impact marks appear to be snow, that is visible before any shots occur. 

Three-way video sync and slow+zoom showing the moment of the first shot before Alex Pretti was killed by DHS agents in Minneapolis yesterday. There’s some claims that Pretti’s gun was the source of the first shot after it was taken from him, though in these videos it doesn’t appear that’s the case.

[image or embed]

— Jake Godin (@godin.bsky.social) 25 January 2026 at 18:33

What’s more, the agent with the black beanie’s right arm that was seen holding the gun moves backwards as the first shot is heard, likely due to the recoil from firing.

After firing once, the agent in the black beanie repositions, and then quickly fires three more shots at Pretti’s back at close range while he appears to try to stand up.

In this video, multiple agents are piled on top of Pretti while his hands can be seen in front of him, on the ground. His hands remain in front of him as the agent in the grey jacket recovers the gun and moves away.

Pretti collapses onto the ground after the first shots and the agents back away. A second agent (the one wearing the brown beanie hat) then draws his gun and fires at least one shot. This is the fifth shot that is heard. The agent in the black beanie can be seen and heard firing more shots. Shots five through ten all fired at Pretti’s motionless body.

The agents can be seen from another angle, with the agent in the black beanie visibly firing into Pretti’s motionless body.

A video taken shortly after the shooting shows two agents searching Pretti’s body with one appearing to be heard asking: “Where’s the gun?”.

Bellingcat contacted the Department of Homeland Security to ask why Pretti was shot and killed and whether he was in possession of his gun when the first shots were fired.

DHS did not respond by time of publication.

DHS and CBP statements have so far only stated that one agent fired shots, identifying them as an eight year veteran of Customs and Border Patrol who fired “defensive shots”. It is not known which of the two agents who appeared to fire shots in the videos analysed by Bellingcat is an eight year veteran of CBP. 

Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, on CNN the day after the shooting, when shown video of the gun being removed before the shooting and asked why border patrol agents shot an unarmed man said, “You don’t know he was unarmed. I don’t know he was unarmed.” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, when asked if Pretti was unarmed, said on Meet the Press, “I do not know and nobody else knows either, which is why we’re doing an investigation”. 

In the same CNN interview, Bovino also said that “The victims are the Border Patrol agents.” and that “The suspect [Pretti] put himself in that situation.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said that Pretti was a legal gun owner with a permit to carry and did not have a criminal record.

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Jake Godin, Trevor Ball, Kolina Koltai and Carlos Gonzales contributed to this report.

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On Jan. 7 Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed by a federal agent on Portland Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The incident was captured on several separate videos and spread rapidly on social media. The videos were soon accompanied by competing analysis and narratives as to what had happened.

Bellingcat looked at five videos filmed during the incident, including one apparently from the phone of Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who shot and killed Good.

While each video alone provides valuable information, the five together provide a fuller picture of the situation as it unfolded.

Synced Overview

One of the ways to visualise the full incident was by tracking the movements of the key players on an overview map, which Bellingcat did shortly after the incident on Jan. 7. 

Using eyewitness video shared by Daniel Suitor on Bluesky we tracked the movements of federal agents at the scene – including Ross as he moved around the street. The video also captured the position and movements of Good’s vehicle before, during and after the shots were fired.

We’ve also updated our animated map of the positions of agents and vehicles during the incident here with new footage published by @cnn.com that shows the shooter closer to a white SUV prior to the shootingbsky.app/profile/bell…

[image or embed]

— Bellingcat (@bellingcat.com) Jan 8, 2026 at 18:38

Close-Up View

Another video, filmed by a bystander and later shared by the Minnesota Reformer, shows a closer view of Ross’ movements in the moments immediately before the shooting. 

In the video, Ross can be seen with his phone in his left hand filming Good before he pulls his gun out of its holster with his right hand. Roughly one second elapses before he fires the first round through Good’s front window. Two more shots follow.

A still from that same video captures Ross as he walks past in the seconds after the shooting. A camera app appears open on his phone.

Agent’s Phone

On Jan. 9, a video filmed by Ross was published on X by a conservative news outlet called Alpha News. 

By syncing this video up with the other four available videos, it was possible to observe more of what occurred, including from Ross’ rough perspective. However, it is important to note that Ross was holding the phone slightly away from his body, so what appears in the video would be marginally different to what would have been his line of sight. 

In the footage, Good can be seen backing up before veering to the right as Ross and the camera move to her left. It is not clear from this footage exactly how close the car came to Ross, as the cellphone points up and away as the vehicle moves forward. Someone can be heard saying “whoa” before gunshots are heard. 

An angle captured from down the street (middle lower right in the synchronised video below and in full view here) – which some have suggested shows Ross being hit by the vehicle – does appear to show the vehicle pass close to the agent as he fires. However, the close-up video shared by the Minnesota Reformer (middle top and in full view here) shows Ross moving out of the way and to the side of the vehicle as he fires.

Another video published by CNN (middle lower left) shows a head-on view of the incident from surveillance footage.

New footage from the ICE agent’s phone who shot at Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis has emerged, posted by AlphaNews on X. We’ve placed that footage in a synced timeline with the other currently available footage.

[image or embed]

— Bellingcat (@bellingcat.com) Jan 9, 2026 at 21:23

Almost one week after the incident, protests have been held in Minneapolis and other cities in the US. 

US President, Donald Trump, and Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, initially said that Good had tried to run over an ICE officer after blocking the road, labelling her a “domestic terrorist”. However, the Democratic mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, said that version of events was “garbage” and disproven by the video footage.

On Monday Jan. 12, Noem, told FOX News that more ICE agents would be sent to Minnesota.

Individual links to each of the five videos detailed above can be found here, here, here, here and here.

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The post Analysing Footage of Minneapolis ICE Shooting appeared first on bellingcat.

 As promised, a pair of sketches (one complete with authentic coffee stain!) that I drew before writing Halcyon Years. I'd worked out the basic parameters of the story at this point, putting in the locales I knew I'd need, but there are a few bits and pieces which didn't end up playing much of a role in the book. All of the following is revealed in the first few chapters of the book, by the way, so no fear of giving away anything crucial - although if you'd like to go in totally cold, obviously, read no more.

The first one (click to embiggen) is a basic cross-section of Halcyon. I didn't really have a set idea of how big it needed to be, but 50 km long seemed about right for the type of story I was intending. I was thinking, very roughly, of something about the size of greater Los Angeles. I wanted there to be room enough for distinct settlements with countryside between them, not just one big city, and I also wanted roads and railway lines, and especially the former, so I could have cars. I decided that the ship would be completely closed, with no windows to the outside universe, and that there'd need to be a long, thick tube running down the middle to give the illusion of sky.

The little sketch to the bottom right of the picture is me working out for myself what rough percentage of the interior would be visible from any given position on the inner surface. As you can see, it's never possible to see the opposite side of the tube.

The second sketch (also click to embiggen) is the complete interior rolled out as a map:

As mentioned, there's stuff in there that doesn't come into the final story, and which may or may not be in contradiction with it, such as the island in the middle of Midlake. That was going to be a kind of private retreat for the DelRossos, but in the end I decided not to bother with it, just letting them have their estate and the luxury yacht. I wasn't going to draw another map just because the story took me in a slightly different direction.

Should these or tidied-up versions have been included in the book? I'm not sure. Perhaps because I wasn't a big reader of fantasy, I've never expected to see a map at the beginning of a book, and those few times when I encountered one in an SF context, I never found it all that helpful. But that's just me.

Hackers claimed on Wednesday they’ve stolen a mass of internal data from Match Group, which runs dating apps Hinge, Match, and OkCupid.

Match Group, the company that owns the targeted platforms as well as Tinder and other massively popular dating apps, says it is investigating the incident. 

404 Media downloaded the data and reviewed portions of its contents. It appears to contain some users' unique advertising IDs; corporate receipts; and other internal company documents.

A spokesperson for Match Group told 404 Media: “We are aware of claims being made online related to a recently identified security incident. Match Group takes the safety and security of our users seriously and acted quickly to terminate the unauthorized access. We continue to investigate with the assistance of external cybersecurity experts. There is no indication that user log-in credentials, financial information, or private communications were accessed. We believe the incident affects a limited amount of user data, and we are already in the process of notifying individuals, as appropriate.”

The group, known as Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters, posted on their leak site that they accessed 1.7GB of compressed data from AppsFlyer, a mobile marketing cloud platform. The data also contains company documents and invoices for services from other platforms that did business with Match Group, like Doordash and translation services.

A spokesperson for AppsFlyer told 404 Media: "AppsFlyer has confirmed that the incident referenced in recent media reports did not originate from AppsFlyer and did not involve a data breach, security incident, or compromise of AppsFlyer’s systems. AppsFlyer’s infrastructure and security controls were not breached. Any implication that AppsFlyer was the source of the incident, or that data was exposed due to a compromise of AppsFlyer systems, is inaccurate."

A spokesperson for the hacking group told 404 Media in an online chat: “we got in via vishing their Okta SSO.” Vishing is a variant of phishing but involves talking to someone on the phone. Okta is a cybersecurity company that lets companies manage how employees log into systems.

The spokesperson said the group compromised “Match Group itself, once we compromised the parent company (Match Group) Okta SSO dashboard we were able to connect to other apps like Salesforce, Appsflyer, etc.” 

The group was previously linked to the doxing of hundreds of DHS, ICE, FBI, and DOJ officials.

“We have a similar negotiation tactic as Mr. Trump, we ask high and negotiate low (to the ideal amount we want). However, as we had a feeling in the back of our head, the company did reach out, verified the breach and us, and decided that they will halt all discussions. They did not provide a reason,” the spokesperson said.

In 2024, the Mozilla Foundation criticized Match Group’s biggest platforms, including Hinge and OkCupid, for its data collecting and sharing practices.  

1/28/26 11:02 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from AppsFlyer.

The Doomsday Clock, a symbol of how close humanity is to destroying itself, has moved from 89 seconds to 85 seconds, four seconds closer to “doomsday.” That is the closest the Clock has ever been to midnight. That’s when, in the metaphor proposed by the keepers of the Clock, the world ends. According to the scientists and experts who oversee the ritual setting of the Doomsday Clock, the end of the world is more possible now than it’s ever been.

But In 2026, I feel I don’t need the reminder. 

President Donald Trump’s masked police have executed people in the street, the last nuclear treaty between Russia and the US is about to die, and tech oligarchies are constructing massive resource-sucking datacenters to power an unwanted nuisance technology they say is a path towards a godlike super intelligence.

Why watch the Clock? What is the point of keeping time? I have watched this ritual timekeeping for a decade and, I confess, I am feeling numb and cynical about it.

The Doomsday Clock began ticking in 1947, two years after Albert Einstein and a group of Manhattan Project veterans founded the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the organization that sets the clock. For almost eight decades, generations of the world’s brightest minds have gathered once a year to tell the world how screwed it is.

Alexandra Bell, the current head of the Bulletin, said The Doomsday Clock is worth preserving, of course. Bell describes herself as a late stage Gen Xer. The Clock, she told me in a call last week, has always been a part of her life. “One of every four movies on TV was a nuclear one,” she said. The clear and iconic lines of the Clock have been present in pop culture for decades, most noticeably as a thematic image in Alan Moore’s Watchmen comic book. According to Bell, the symbol is important. “It’s clear that people respond to it. If you simply had a set of scientists deliver a statement about the state of existential risks…would it have the same global reach that the Clock does?”

Nuclear expert Joseph Cirincione also doesn’t recall a time when the Doomsday Clock wasn’t ticking away in the background of his life and work. “It’s part of the fabric of the nuclear age,” he said. Cirincione worked on military reform as a Congressional staffer for nine years before starting a long career in the nuclear world. He’s the former director of non-proliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the retired president of the Ploughshares fund.

Cirincione wasn't exactly skeptical of the Clock when I spoke to him the day before the announcement. “The Doomsday Clock is probably the most cited measure of nuclear risk in the world today,” he said. But he did share some of my concerns. “Being so close to midnight, you’re afraid the metric loses its power,” he said.“What does it mean to go from 89 seconds to 75 seconds?”

“Here's the dilemma: I believe we are seconds away from nuclear catastrophe,” he said. “This is true. This is an accurate reflection of the risk. You can make a long list of what the risks are, but at the top of the list is that a crazy man has the sole unfettered ability to launch a nuclear war, and no one can stop him, and that is our president. That is true. He could do that this afternoon. The President of the United States is increasingly demonstrably mentally unstable, and yet, if he wanted to launch a nuclear weapon, no one could stop him.”

During an interview with New York Magazine published on January 26, 2025—the day before the Clock ticked forward—Trump appeared to forget the word “Alzheimer’s” when describing the health issue that felled his father. “Well, I don’t have it,” Trump said after his press secretary filled in the word for him. “I don’t think about it at all. You know why? Because whatever it is, my attitude is whatever.”

These are not inspiring words from a man with the ability to end all life on Earth.

Cirincione wants the Bulletin to stress Trump’s diminished mental capacity during its announcement, but he’s not hopeful they will. “What holds them back is that the natural desire of experts to be non-partisan and to not explicitly criticize a leader of a country, a leader of a political party, they don't want to be dragged into that,” he said. “Discussing the mental stability of that person that is way too sensitive for a group like the Bulletin to take on. So they will shirk from that.”

During speeches and a question and answer session after the announcement, the experts at the Bulletin mentioned Trump many times.  It’s clear they see him as a liar and a threat to world peace. “We’ve seen President Trump using [AI videos] to try to persuade people that things have happened that have not happened,” Steven Fetter, a member of the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board, said. But as Cirincione predicted, they didn’t touch on his mental state.

They did, however, hit on another topic Cirincione worried they would avoid. “The biggest change in nuclear risks over the last 10 years is that seven of the nine nuclear armed states are now led by authoritarian leaders,” he said.

The rising tide of authoritarianism and nationalism were central talking points of the Bulletin’s announcement this year. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Maria Ressa gave the keynote address of the announcement. Ressa, a journalist from the Philippines, is well aware of the world’s current horrors. Ressa reported on the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte who was a kind of proto-Trump. She said that democracy, diplomacy, and science don’t work without a shared sense of reality, what she calls the world’s operating system.

“The operating system has been corrupted, deliberately, systematically, for profit,” she said during her address. “The platforms that mediate our information were built on an extractive and predatory model. They turned our attention into a commodity and our outrage into their business model…this brings out the worst of humanity. They don't connect us, they divide us, and in that division, they've enabled the collapse of cooperation and the rise of illiberal leaders who exploit chaos. As of last year, 72 percent of the world is now under authoritarian rule.”

In her address, Ressa was critical of big tech. “The old order is not coming back,” Ressa said. “We’re witnessing something more dangerous: the fusion of state power with the tech oligarchy. The men who control the platforms that shape what billions believe have merged with the men who control governments and militaries. Might makes right is the new operating principle and they have the tools to manufacture consent or to simply drown out dissent.”

In a world where the tech company Palantir works hand in glove with ICE to figure out which neighborhoods to raid and Flock’s facial recognition technology is used liberally by police across America, Ressa’s words hit the mark more closely than the threat of nuclear weapons. And maybe that’s what I’m feeling too: the sense that nuclear weapons, like the Clock, are a nostalgic fear in the face of Big Tech overreach and the rise of authoritarianism.

And yet. The United States is set to spend trillions of dollars on new and different kinds of nuclear weapons. In less than two weeks, the last remaining treaty that limits the amount of deployed nuclear weapons in America and Russia will expire. Trump has threatened to test nuclear weapons again. China is building more nukes. Multiple countries, including South Korea, have expressed interest in acquiring their own nukes.

The risk of nuclear annihilation can feel abstract and overwhelming. The world has built a series of complicated and interconnected systems that allow a handful of people to destroy everything. When facing the totality of these weapons I feel like the protagonist of a Lovecraft story. I am struck dumb by horrors beyond my comprehension.

Best, then, to keep the metaphors simple. “Other people have tried,” Cirincione said. “None of them have come close to the traction of the Clock. So, the best argument for keeping the Clock is that it works and it has a proven track record, and you'd be foolish to give up that symbol now.”

Bell said that more people are paying attention to the Clock than ever before. She tells me that traffic is up at the Bulletin’s website and more people are reading about nuclear weapons, climate change, and the existential risks of technology like AI. The Clock, Bell said, is still connecting with people. “It’s not just a warning, it’s a call to action,” she said. “The fact that it’s not midnight yet means we have time to fix these problems.”

I ask her how close the Clock has to tick down to midnight before the metaphor breaks down. 

“I hope we never have to find out,” she said. “Every metaphorical second counts.”

So the Clock ticks on. Four seconds closer now.

“How long can we go? We go until midnight,” Bell said.