Because several of the boys Scott had taught and sponsored in the years he had lived in Sagada had joined the anti-Marcos opposition, Scott was accused of being a communist sympathiser. The government forces who had broken into his house and arrested him had also found copies of Mao’s writings in his bookshelf, and cited this as "evidence" of his communist leanings. Colleague Stuart Schlagel recounts Scott's response: ""For heaven’s sake, I teach Asian history, and anyone who does that must be familiar with Mao’s work! It doesn’t mean I have abandoned Christianity and democratic politics; it just means I am a historian practicing his trade.""