Washington, Aug 21 (IANS): An interracial couple were stabbed 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, CNN quoted Olympia police spokeswoman Laura Wohl as saying on Friday.

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, according to police officials.

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," CNN reported citing Wohl as saying.

Investigators were treating the attack as a hate crime and Rowe has been charged with two 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, CNN added.