A Huffington Post reporter whose profile has been elevated by his arrest in Ferguson, Missouri while covering protests and riots in the aftermath of Michael Brown’s death mistook ear plugs for rubber bullets Sunday.

Ryan J. Reilly, who was arrested Wednesday night after police asked him to leave a McDonald’s as protesters closed in, learned the hard way that Twitter can be a place where your thumbs move faster than your mind–and where every mistake you make is saved forever.

I believe these are rubber bullets, can anyone confirm? #Fergurson pic.twitter.com/iCsFi6qoIa — Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 17, 2014