User blog comment:James12708/Why Exactly is Sheperd on Earth if Arrival Wasn't Completed/@comment-4967682-20121202110330/@comment-4967682-20121202183800

If you can get arrested for something as simple as using resources from an organization the Council doesn't like, what the hell is the point of being a Spectre? And why the hell would the Alliance arrest Shepard when the Council gave him their explicit approval? The Arrival made it clear that the only reason they arrested him was so he could be a scapegoat for the war with the batarians.

And like you said: HACKETT TURNS THE REQUEST DOWN. He didn't say "Wait, we'll arrest him later", he said "request denied".