Rampant wrongful prosecutions terrorize innocent people-everywhere. The scientific community is not immune to this. I know because I was a victim. I am a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who was accused by the US government of fraud and questionable connections to Chinese entities. Earlier this year, I was finally exonerated-it took 2 years. I am painfully aware, however, that I am the luckiest among the unlucky. Many other Chinese American scientists are being unfairly investigated for similar alleged "crimes." Or they are simply leaving the country to avoid being targeted. My ordeal taught me that politics affects science and scientists, and that universities and funding agencies must stand up for faculty who are wrongfully prosecuted.