Deleted tweets show Minneapolis council candidate's shift on police issues

Why it matters: The 13-member council plays a key role in funding the Minneapolis Police Department and other public safety initiatives in the city.

State of play: The positions taken in the posts represent a shift in both the tone and the political stances Chowdhury has taken during her campaign for an open seat that could shape the council's political dynamics.

• A win by Chowdhury, who is endorsed by the DFL Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, could increase the sway of the progressive bloc.

Zoom in: Chowdhury has been open in her criticism of MPD, writing on her campaign website that the department is in need of "deep reforms" after decades of exhibiting "racist, misogynistic, othering, and unconstitutional policing practice."

• But she's stopped short in her campaign of calling for defunding or abolishing the department. In response to a Star Tribune candidate survey, Chowdhury said she has "consistently stated that I support funding the amount needed to get us to the mandatory minimum number of officers."

Yes, but: Screenshots of tweets that Axios reviewed and confirmed via the WayBack machine web archives show Chowdhury identifying as a police "abolitionist" and criticizing council members who voted to increase funding to address an officer shortage.

• "If you're not for abolition of the police at this point you really have some deep work to do," one 2020 post reads. "Time and time again reforms fail. Police and safety cannot coexist in Minneapolis."

What she's saying: Chowdhury told Axios that while she "can't remember everything I said a few years ago on Twitter," her team did delete her past social media posts to "start fresh" when she launched her campaign.

• She said her views at the time were shaped by "sharing in the horror and the egregious actions of the Minneapolis Police Department after the murder of George Floyd and after years and years of seeing Black and brown people being violated or losing their lives" at the hands of MPD.
• "When others stood still in that moment, and when it felt like inaction at the city was really deafening. I expressed my outrage and expressed myself with other residents because I wanted to see a change."

What changed: Chowdhury said her stance on MPD "evolved" through conversations with residents, Third Precinct police and crime prevention specialists as a city council aide and political organizer on the unsuccessful 2021 ballot measure to dismantle MPD and replace it with a new department. The guilty verdict for Derek Chauvin was also an "inflection point" in her views.

• She said she now believes that a "public safety system that's comprehensive, accountable and responsive" requires police.

The latest: Public safety issues — including the location of the new Third Precinct — have become a hot topic in the three-way race to succeed outgoing Council Member Andrew Johnson, a swing vote on the current council.

The intrigue: Chowdhury's chief rival, Luther Ranheim, also appeared to back the dismantling of MPD on X, formerly known as Twitter, before launching his campaign. A screenshot of his personal account, now private, shows him liking a 2022 post declaring "reform is worse than useless. Burn this department to the ground and rake the ashes."

• In a statement, Ranheim blamed "clumsy thumbs," saying he "may have inadvertently 'liked' a couple tweets while scrolling social media on my phone." He said he opposed the 2021 MPD overhaul measure and has been consistent in supporting both hiring more police and expanding alternative responses.

Be smart: It's not unheard of for candidates and elected officials on both sides of the aisle to change their political positions over time — some even alter or reverse views in the course of a single campaign.

• Several city council members who vowed to "end policing as we know it" following Floyd's murder went on to increase funding for MPD.