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Everyday Americans speak out against police shootings

The Impact of Police Shootings
The impact of police shootings 02:50

Many Americans are hurting as they try to understand the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, just days apart from each other.

Politicians respond to recent police shootings 01:03

Police involved shootings, and the viral videos that often accompany them, seem to have become routine. "CBS Evening News" spoke to some everyday Americans who are dealing with the effects of police violence in their daily lives.

Tamar Manasseh, founder of Mothers Against Senseless Killings in Chicago, Illinois, called the shootings "sickening and they're terrifying."

"The pot is boiling over and unless the police start to believe and start to see themselves as part of the communities they patrol, you're going to have major problems," she told us.

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Rachel Garlinghouse with her husband and three children. Rachel Garlinghouse

"In this racial climate, I don't know that I could tell [my children] that if you go to a police officer you are going to receive help," said Rachel Garlinghouse, a white woman and the mother of three black children.

Jermaine Kelley, a 22-year-old lifelong Chicago resident, called on police to speak out against the violence. "If you are a good cop and you're out there listening to this, step up, speak out, engage in the community."

And Jeff Johnson, a black man and father of three in Baltimore, Maryland said he knows great police officers -- which makes him angry that his children cannot always trust the police.

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Johnson and his two sons. Jeff Johnson

"The fact that I have to have this conversation with my children makes me feel less American," he said.

To hear the rest of their stories, watch the video above.

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