Salman Rushdie and the "but brigade"

Bloomberg has this, what were they smoking?

German Anti-Islam Rally Draws Record Crowd After Paris Terror Attacks
Well, German TV said 3,000 souls showed up for the Muslim rally. Shows that Germans don't give a fuck.

together to subdue free speech

This is what Salman Rushdie had to say at the Bill Maher Show:

“I’m for free speech, but…” brigade, coming out in defense of Charlie Hebdo… sort of. He told Maher the West must not “give a fucking inch” when it comes to free expression and standing against such radicalism. Besides, he asked, “what would a respectful political cartoon look like?”