Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt gave a press conference earlier today to announce charges in a 2004 cold case.

Attorney General Eric Schmitt on Thursday announced that Alice Weiss was charged with second-degree murder in the death of James Summers, who died in April 2004 in the eastern Missouri town of Dittmer. The charge was filed Wednesday.

“We will continue to fight for the families and loved ones of victims of violent crime who have little hope, who have waited long years and sometimes decades for justice to finally be served,” Schmitt said in a statement.

The Cold Case Unit was established by Schmitt in December of 2020, when second-degree murder charges were announced in a Franklin County case from 1986. Per the AG’s website:

The Cold Case Unit was launched by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt in December of 2020. The Unit’s first case entailed charges in a 35-year-old murder in Washington, Missouri. The Cold Case Unit will continually work with prosecutors, law enforcement, and other stakeholders across the state to investigate, and potentially charge, cold case homicides.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has continually led the way in the fight against violent crime in Missouri’s major cities. In addition to the Cold Case Unit, Attorney General Schmitt’s Safer Streets Initiative has led to nearly 600 charges against over 200 defendants across the state. Additionally, the Attorney General’s Special Prosecution Unit aids in complex violent crime cases across the state on a regular basis.

During this morning’s press conference, Schmitt, who is a candidate to replace Roy Blunt in the U.S. Senate next year, was also asked about vaccine mandates. His response left no question as to the Attorney General’s stance on such measures:

WATCH: Missouri AG @Eric_Schmitt rips COVID vaccine mandates

“If someone says that using fear is good, that is what every tyrant and dictator in the history of the world has ever said to accumulate, aggregate and maintain power.” pic.twitter.com/s090CJDPj6

— Charli Huddleston (@_CAHuddleston) August 12, 2021

Yeah, if someone says that using fear is good, that is what every tyrant in the history of the world, and every dictator in the history of the world, has ever said to accumulate, aggregate, and maintain power. This is America — the freest country in the history of the world — and I don’t think that we should be allowing individual politicians who want to grab power and never let go of it gain it in the first place.

People can make their decisions. I believe in freedom. I believe in responsibility.  The people can make these very important decisions themselves. And I don’t want to live in some futuristic, dystopian, bio-medical security state. And I’m going to do everything I can as Attorney General to protect the rights of individuals in the state.

Thankfully, as Attorney General, he has a healthy arsenal enabling him to do just that.