Alexandra Pelosi's quest for who 'came to kill my mother' fueled 'Insurrectionist' doc

Alexandra Pelosi arrived at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with her two teenage sons in tow, intent on witnessing the Electoral College formalize Joe Biden’s presidential victory.

“The peaceful transfer of power,” she says in an interview. Afterward, members of Congress are sworn in, “and that's something my kids have been to since birth.” Three days earlier, the documentarian’s mother, Nancy Pelosi, took her oath as speaker of the House for her fourth term.

Alexandra Pelosi saw the mob from inside the Capitol and witnessed rioters trying to break a window to enter. More than 1,000 people have been charged in the storming that stemmed from the belief that Donald Trump had won the election. Five people died and police officers sent to the Capitol later died by suicide.

The result of her conversations with “the normies” who participated is “The Insurrectionist Next Door,” her 15th HBO documentary, premiering Sunday (9 EDT/PDT).

“The security made us leave, and so I never got to see them face to face,” she says. “I was really curious: Who are these people that came to kill my mother? Who are these people that wanted to hang her from a lamp post? Who are these people that said, 'I'm going to put a bullet in her noggin?'”

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Most of her interview subjects have been accused of misdemeanors and pleaded guilty to the charges. “We're not just handing the microphone and enabling the haters to spew their hate,” she emphasizes. “These are American citizens that are going to be participating in the next election.”

Pelosi wanted to know who took her mother’s speaker of the House sign, for example. “So I went to Missouri talk to Emily Hernandez,” the young woman seen gleefully holding the broken plaque, whom the filmmaker asks, “Did you come to assassinate (my mother)?”

Pelosi predicts how her mother and other family members will react to the documentary and shares what she hopes viewers will take from the film. (Edited for length and clarity.)

Question: What are your mother’s thoughts on the film?

Alexandra Pelosi: I have stopped talking to my mother about my work a long time ago. I’m 53 years old, and I've made 15 documentaries. I don't call up Mommy and ask for permission to make movies. I don't think she's going like this one. The last movie I made (last year’s “Pelosi in the House”) didn't go over so well with her.

During my first film (2002’s “Journeys with George”), when I was filming George W. Bush on the bus, he said: “Oh, I get it. Your philosophy is, it's better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission.” So that's always been my philosophy. This is not one that’s going to go over well with the rest of the family, and that’s OK. I talk to people for a living. That doesn't mean I agree with what they say or that I think it's OK that they're saying it. I'm just sharing what they say with the world.

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Why do you predict it won’t go over well with the rest of your family?

We have some scars, to whatever degree, depending on how close you were to it. I can't unsee my father sitting in the ICU looking like Frankenstein (after being assaulted with a hammer at his San Francisco home last October). I'll never unsee that. That's my father. Those are the scars of broken America, a divided political country. This stuff is hard.

Wounds can heal. Just look at my father. He's walking, talking and living his best life. He's fine. Physically, he has healed. America? I'm not sure America has healed. I'm hoping America can heal. That's the reason I do this stuff. When I went out, I said my motto for making this film was Abraham Lincoln(‘s quote), “With malice toward none; with charity for all.” Let’s try to make peace.

Did you ever feel unsafe while making the “The Insurrectionist Next Door”?

I usually went by myself or with my husband (journalist Michiel Vos). There were some that may have been a little more threatening, but when you go to people's houses and you meet their wives, you meet their kids, it's really hard to hate people up close. And I'm sure when I came in, they probably hated me for just my last name. But the kind of work I do, I just go there. I think they’re surprised I don't have camera crews or an entourage. I found the one takeaway of all the things I do is that, whatever I thought going into it or whatever they thought going into it, it's hard to hate up close.

What do you want audiences to walk away with from the documentary?

I want people to listen to each other. I want people to try to have a conversation, because I feel like the one thing we're not doing anymore is having a conversation. The people in this film, they're not Nazis, they're not Hamas, they're not 9/11 hijackers. They're just guys that committed misdemeanors taking selfies too close to the Capitol.

I'm not making excuses for them. I'm just saying they are American citizens who have the right to vote in the next election. And they are voting for Donald Trump, and you need to understand their blind allegiance to this man. If you want to understand anything about America, you need to try to understand these people.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: HBO's 'Insurrectionist Next Door': Alexandra Pelosi longs for 'peace'