Watch: CNN's Angela Rye Posts Video of Her 'Humiliating' TSA Search In Hopes Of Fixing Broken System

Watch: CNN's Angela Rye Posts Video of Her 'Humiliating' TSA Search In Hopes Of Fixing Broken System

Here's why #TSAVaginaMonologues is trending.

Published December 17th

CNN's Angela Rye recently made a fearless decision to turn a horrific personal experience into a necessary call to action.

While making her way through TSA at an airport this past Thursday (Dec. 15), a safety routine that the political correspondent goes through regularly for her career, Rye was singled out to go through an added security check. Following this, she promptly asked the police officer called to the scene to film her being publicly patted down by a TSA agent.

During the aggressive search, the agent lifts up her dress and during the pat down, Rye asserts that her genitals were touched twice in the process. As seen in the final seconds of the video, Rye is on the brink of tears.

After the tragic experience, one that she refers to as utter humiliation, she took to Periscope to explain why she refuses to be silent about what had just happened to her. During her live recording, she shares, for one example of why this cannot be acceptable, that while she personally is not a victim of previous assault, she is worried about what effect such inappropriate TSA practices could have on those who have been sexually assaulted in the past.

View the video of Rye being searched and her Periscope session following the ordeal in the clips below.

By posting the video, she is hoping to fix a broken system and as the clip continues to go viral, many are responding to her posts on Twitter sharing their own TSA horror stories. Rye also posted an op-ed on CNN explaining what happened in further detail, calling out TSA in an open letter beginning, "Dear TSA: The country is not safer because you grab vaginas."

As the dialogues continue regarding this unfortunate experience, countless others are taking to Twitter to share their own stories, many of which are similar to what the reporter went through, further proving there is an urgency for change.

Check out some more of Angela Rye's tweets discussing the matter below.

"I shared the video on social media," Rye writes. "I shared my humiliation. I shared my feelings on Periscope after the incident, so we could have a constructive conversation about altering practices. Of course, we want America to be safe and protected but we should not violate the emotional and physical safety of our nation's citizens at the same time."

Explaining her reasoning to not let this incident go by unreported, Rye shares that things won't change unless "we ask questions and demand answers."

"We do not have to do something because it's always been done -- that does not make it right," she adds. "Perhaps it's time for the TSA to invest in new equipment. It is definitely time for them to keep their hands away from vaginas."

Read her detailed account of what happened in full here, and check out some reactionary tweets below.

I shared the video on social media. I shared my humiliation. I shared my feelings on Periscope after the incident, so we could have a constructive conversation about altering practices. Of course, we want America to be safe and protected but we should not violate the emotional and physical safety of our nation's citizens at the same time.
Things don't change unless we ask questions and demand answers. We do not have to do something because it's always been done -- that does not make it right.
Perhaps it's time for the TSA to invest in new equipment. It is definitely time for them to keep their hands away from vaginas.

Written by KC Orcutt

(Photo: Larry French/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

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