Karlson was arrested in 1991 while eating lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Brisbane. Footage of his arrest went viral decades later, and gave way to the now infamous line “a succulent Chinese meal?”.
“Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest,” he said while being arrested.
“Have a look at the headlock here. See that chap over there?”
“Get your hand off my penis! Get your hand off my penis! This is the bloke who got me on the penis before.
“Why did you do this to me? For what reason? What is the charge? Eating a meal?
“A succulent Chinese meal?”
Throughout his life, Karlson has maintained that police arrested the wrong man.
In recent years, his health took a turn, and his niece set up a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for his treatments.
“I know Jack’s video has given a lot of people joy and he has inspired many memes, t-shirts and other things over the years but Jack himself is doing it quite tough,” she said on the fundraiser.
“He has never had much money but has always been generous to family and friends. He lives week to week in regional QLD with the help of a voluntary carer.
“Hoping people can dig deep – I think he’s worth at least a beer, maybe even a 6-pack.”