Antwon Mitchell

Infobox character
colour = skyblue
name = Antwon Mitchell


caption =
first = "The Cure" (episode 4.01)
last = "Chasing Ghosts" (episode 6.06)
cause =
nickname =
alias =
species =
gender = Male
age = late 30s
born =
death =
occupation = Drug kingpin
title = Head of One Niners gang
callsign =
family = Jason Porter (half brother, possibly still on death row)
spouse =
children = Donald III (son)
5 other children
relatives =
residence =
episode =
portrayer = Anthony Anderson
creator = Shawn Ryan

Antwon Mitchell is a fictional character from the FX television show "The Shield", portrayed by Anthony Anderson.

Character overview

Mitchell is a former drug lord who, having been released from prison after a lengthy sentence, tried to reinvent himself as an upstanding community activist. However, he has secretly secured power as the most powerful drug boss in the district, leading a gang called the One Niners.

Early life

Mitchell's childhood was not a pleasant one. He was an overweight loner who was too frightened to protect his young sister from their sexually abusive father. His mother later shot and killed his father, for which she was sentenced to life in prison. Monica Rawling reveals and uses this information against Mitchell during an interrogation. While imprisoned, she was impregnated by a prison guard and bore Antwon's half-brother, Jason Porter.

Relationship with police

Mitchell has a longstanding feud with Captain Monica Rawling, the officer who sent him to prison. The two square off at a community meeting regarding the new implementation of Rawling's seizure policy. The events of the fourth season unfolded from this confrontation.

Detective Shane Vendrell, attempting to emulate his former mentor Vic Mackey, actively pursues a possible partnership with Mitchell. With Vendrell on Mitchell's payroll, he and his partner, Armando "Army" Renta help Mitchell eliminate his rivals and ultimately become head of the One Niners. Not satisfied with simply paying cops do his dirty work, Mitchell seeks to dominate Shane and his partner. After being provoked several times by Vendrell, Mitchell's thugs attack him and Renta in a warehouse. With his foot on Vendrell's neck, Mitchell murders the 11-year-old girl who had informed on his drug ring, costing him a great deal of money and heroin. He uses the body to blackmail the two into murdering Mackey, whom Mitchell sees as the biggest threat to his drug business. However, instead of doing as he was told, Vendrell asks for Mackey's help. After finding the girl's body with a hidden camera, they catch footage of Mitchell restating his offer of "a body for a body." This ultimately forces Mitchell to plead guilty to the girl's murder and attempting to order the death of a police officer.

Attempt at immunity

After helping David Aceveda kill a prison inmate, Mitchell tries to free himself from his sentence by using information regarding the inner workings of a Salvadoran drug cartel in order to get a DEA immunity deal without disclosing any information about the cop killings in his territory. However, the deal is ultimately voided when Mitchell's nemesis, Captain Rawling, sacrifices her job by bringing down the Salvadorans herself, making sure that Mitchell never gets a chance to leave prison.

Prison life

Since his imprisonment, Mitchell has risen to a place of power within the prison, essentially running it. He also supports a revival of the fading One Niners gang and even attempts to run his drug ring from inside. He also makes a deal with Internal Affairs Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh to give up information on the Strike Team in exchange for their incarceration at "his" prison. However, he makes a separate deal with Mackey to provide financial assistance for the One Niners in exchange for Curtis "Lem" Lemansky's protection in prison. The deal goes through, but only pulls in a small haul of cash. Combined with Kavanaugh's investigation of the prison system that puts a cramp in Mitchell's personal comfort, Mitchell declares the deal off and vows that he will have Lemansky murdered, no matter which prison he is sent to.

Mackey and the Strike Team hide Lemansky in a trailer park. The heat brought on by IAD in response leads to Lemansky's murder at Vendrell's hand. After Lemansky's death, Mackey visited Mitchell in prison, hoping that he is the one who ordered the hit. Mitchell is proud to have Vic blame for all the ills of the world, but admits that he had nothing to do with the murder.