In as many days, two more Black men are dead at the hands of Chicago police, after a stark rise in the number of (Black male) deaths at the hands of the department in recent months.

The press reports from the Chatham neighborhood on Chicago's South Side have been vague. A still as-yet-unidentified man was "acting erratically" on a bus on Monday. According to one of the city's newspapers, the police arrested him, and he was later found dead in his holding cell. That is literally the end of the story, as far as the reporters are concerned. This is more than suspicious, as we know from the case of Lester Spruill, who Chicago's press never concerned themselves with but was killed by police and "found dead in police custody."

The Saint

Freddie Latee Wilson was a 34-year old local emcee known as "The Saint", a former felon from North Lawndale who rapped against 'making bad decisions,' and promoting community activism. According to his former girlfriend, "He was a very revolutionary rapper… He believed in uplifting people."

On Tuesday, "[p]olice said they pulled over Freddie Latee Wilson's beige Cadillac around 10:30 p.m. at the intersection of Madison and Lorel streets," according to NBC 5 News. Minutes later, and with witnesses on the scene at the Austin intersection, three of the four officers shot Wilson to death. Witnesses say he was unarmed, but, same old story, the Chicago police claim they found a weapon right outside his car. Witnesses also claim this couldn't have been a traffic stop, as Wilson's car was very close to where it had been parked all day. The old tool Office of Professional Standards underwent a face-lift to become the new tool Independent Police Review Authority, and this will the agency's first police shooting under the new guise.

He is survived by his eight-year old son King Latee, who is taken care of by his mother and Wilson's former girlfriend, Corinthia Federick, who raps under the name NewSense. He is also survived by two younger daughters.

Hip-hop blogs and websites have begun reporting the slaying, though wholly based on press reports.

From the NBC 5 report:

"They are trying to make him look bad because he has a criminal background," said Fedrick. "Well, what is a criminal background? Hell, we all got a criminal background."

Fedrick said she hopes the new police review authority will hold officers accountable for their actions.

"I prayed and prayed on it," she said. "With this new office, hopefully this will be the beginning of them bringing justice to these streets."

Pastors returned to the scene Tuesday, launching their own investigation.

"We are pro-police we are not anarchists. We believe crooks are crooks whether they wear blue jeans or uniforms," said one reverend.