Earlier this week, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he is like a lot of people when it comes to the Sandy Hook tragedy. At times, he finds himself overcome, usually in private. One of those moments unfolded in public Friday.

The trigger was a question about his plans to remember the anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting on Saturday.

He first answered briskly, repeating what he has said previously: He intends to attend a religious service in Newtown, then privately perform an act of community service for a nonprofit agency.

“I will enter and exit very rapidly. I will not be handling questions. It’s not a press event,” Malloy said, addressing reporters. “I will be volunteering some time at a not-for-profit agency in keeping with what I’ve asked the rest of the citizens to do.”

Again, he emphasized that none of his events will be press events, respecting the wishes of Newtown for a low-key day of remembrance.

“I am otherwise going to treat this day as, um –“

He looked down.

“I’m trying to –“

He looked down again.

“I’m doing my best to be respectful of the community. Thank you.”

Mark is the Capitol Bureau Chief and a co-founder of CT Mirror. He is a frequent contributor to WNPR, a former state politics writer for The Hartford Courant and Journal Inquirer, and contributor for The New York Times.

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