Atlas Defense's training addresses that by intentionally serving the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ community to prepare for the modern threats they face. Atlas Defense was founded in 2016 with Manuel's experience as a military police officer & combat marksmanship coach (shooting coach) in the Marines and later private security contractor overseas and stateside. In that professional capacity, he culminated a de
cade of experience with over 2,500 students ranging from fellow servicemembers to foreign police and other security contractors. Throughout that time, he was learning that something was inherently wrong with the imperialist power he aided in projecting around the globe. Especially as he was studying "law enforcement" at the University of St. Thomas in 08, Manuel learned about the systemic oppression of poor and BIPOC people for the sole purpose of protecting property and white supremacy. Even then, it took years of additional experience (two deployments to Afghanistan and thousands of hours on other private security details) before deciding to start Atlas. Throughout his time in the Twin Cities since arriving in 2007, Manuel also started noticing how underserved and underrepresented his BIPOC and LGBTQ+ neighbors were in the overall firearm and self-defense industry. Odd and eventually overtly racist interactions at literally every commercial gun range in the Twin Cities caused him to develop a hunch that folx like himself needed a dedicated space to learn responsible gun ownership, de-escalation and other violence prevention skillsets that could help the community. As classes and programming have evolved over the last 6 years of operations, we are proud to share that Atlas Defense has pivoted to align even more closely with the community we cherish. Bringing on over a dozen new instructors in the time since the George Floyd Uprising against his public lynching has taught us what it really means to be in community with those affected and unaffected by the systemic conditions that murdered George Floyd and countless other BIPOC, poor, and LGBTQI+ neighbors. At times, this means educating well-intentioned allies about the realities we face and other times it means coming into the workplace to help all the workers feel like they have a shared understanding and capability to respond to incidents without calling in armed police every time. Outside the workplace and in the community, our training opportunities and some grant-funded projects have helped us spread load this skillset with hundreds of consciousness-raising folx in the last two years. Whether it's basic situational awareness, trauma informed de-escalation, or responsible gun ownership, we are confident that our diverse cadre of instructors can meet you where you're at and help you advance to the level of proficiency in violence prevention and response with or without a firearm. Signup for a class today at atlasdefensemn.com or contact us anytime with questions! with love,
atlas defense
612.492.1297
(text preferred, secure comm line also available)
