Fred Phelps, founder of he staunchly anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church, had a long and contentious relationship with the FBI, according to the late pastor’s newly released 250-page bureau file.

 

Phelps, who died in March 2014 at age 84, was known best for leading protests at funerals to highlight the church’s crusade against homosexuality.

 

He also attempted a U.S. Senate run in 1992, gaining almost 31 percent of the vote in the Kansas Democratic primary, and launched three failed gubernatorial bids.

 

The FBI's first mentions of Phelps occurred in 1967, when a confidential informant told the bureau that Phelps was “in need of psychiatric care.” At the time, he had been at the helm of Westboro for more than a decade but primarily worked as a lawyer.

 

However, it would not be the last time Phelps or the church caught the attention of federal law enforcement. He appears in FBI records in almost every year from 1993 to 2006. By August 2005, the bureau said in a memo that the Westboro Baptist Church founder was “well known to the FBI.”

 

 

Anti-gay crusader had 250-page FBI file | TheHill

Before Westboro, Phelps was actually a prominent civil rights attorney and had won some pretty big cases.