A pair of posts hinting at suicide were deleted from Chelsea Manning's Twitter account Sunday night. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Chelsea Manning alarmed her friends Sunday night with a pair of since-deleted tweets in which she contemplated suicide.
The U.S. Senate candidate — a former soldier and whistleblower — who is hoping to unseat a Maryland Democrat shared a jarring photo of what appeared to be her poised to jump from the ledge of an unidentified high-rise building.
The figure in the photo was wearing pink pajamas and had painted toenails. It's unclear where the photo was taken.
"I'm sorry - I tried - I'm sorry I let you all down," Manning wrote. "Im not really cut out for this world - I tried adapting to this world out here but I failed you - I couldn't do this anymore - I can take people I don't know hating me but not my own friends," she added. "I tried and I'm sorry about my failure."
The posts were flooded with well-wishes from Manning's followers and the number to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which is 1-800-273-8255.
After a half hour, the tweets vanished and were replaced with a brief message announcing that Manning was out of harm's way.
"Chelsea is safe. She is on the phone with friends. Thanks everyone for your concern and please give her some space," the message read.
Manning's campaign spokeswoman, Kelly Wright, did not respond to a request for comment.
Manning, who now lives in North Bethesda, announced her bid to run against Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) in January.
The government whistleblower's 35-year sentence was cut short by President Barack Obama before he left office in 2017.
While imprisoned, Manning came out as a transgender woman. The former Army intelligence analyst tried taking her own life at least twice while imprisoned at the Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, according to The New York Times.
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