Michelle Obama says she is devastated by the shootings in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as thousands marched on Washington at a historic civil rights rally.
The former First Lady added that she is “exhausted and frustrated” at the trauma of black and brown people in the US.
She condemned the shooting of Jacob Blake, shot seven times in the back by police in front of his children, as well as the shooting of three p eople allegedly by a 17-year-old boy at the protests that followed.
“I’m just devastated by the shootings in Kenosha,” she wrote. “Like so many of you, I’m exhausted and frustrated right now. It’s a weight that I know Black and Brown people all across the country are shouldering once again. And we’re so often left wondering how things will get better.”
Her comments come as thousands attended a civil rights rally in Washington to denounce racism on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
Nationwide protests in the US began in May, sparked by the killing of George Floyd, an African-American man who died after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
This week, protests broke out in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after police officers shot another African-American man, Jacob Blake, multiple times in front of his children.
Though Blake survived, lawyers said he has been paralysed.
"We will not be your docile slave. We will not be a footstool to oppression," said Letetra Widman, Blake's sister.
George Floyd's brother, Philonise Floyd, appeared on stage as well and at times stopped to collect himself, apparently overcome with emotion.
"I wish George was here to see this," he said.
"You might have killed the dreamer, but you can't kill the dream," civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton told Friday's crowd.
Activists and politicians gave speeches, including Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, who appeared in a recorded video.
Many referenced U.S. Representative John Lewis, a civil rights hero who spoke at the 1963 march and died in July.
Speakers stressed the importance of voting in November's election and links between activism for Black civil rights, disability rights and LGBT rights and against gun violence,
among other causes.
"In so many ways, we stand together today in the symbolic shadow of history, but we are making history together right now," said Martin Luther King III, Martin Luther King Jr's son.
The half-mile march from the Lincoln Memorial to the Martin Luther King Memorial, on a hot, humid day in the US capital comes after the shooting of Mr Blake by police stoked racial tensions again in the country.
