An interracial couple was attacked after a self-proclaimed white supremacist saw them kissing outside a Washington restaurant, police said.
Daniel Rowe, 32, came up to the African-American man and the white woman and, without a word, started stabbing them, said Olympia police spokeswoman Laura Wohl.
The man, who was stabbed in the hip, was able to tackle the suspect and restrain him on the ground until police arrived. His injuries were minor, as were the woman’s.
The man confessed to stabbing the couple, saying he was a white supremacist, Wohl said.
“The suspect spouted white supremacist sayings and made many many references to racist things,” she said.
Rowe also complained about the Black Lives Matter movement, and had tattoos that said ‘Skinhead’ and ‘White Power,’ Wohl said.
Investigators are treating the attack as a hate crime and Rowe has been charged with 2 counts of first degree assault and one count of malicious harassment under Washington State’s “hate crime” law.
Rowe was booked into the Thurston County Jail and is being held on $500,000 bail.
He made his first court appearance Wednesday and is scheduled to be arraigned on August 30.
The local Public Defender’s office said he has not been assigned counsel yet.