Jack Karlson, the man behind Australia’s pre-eminent meme ‘this is democracy manifest', took his last breath at the age of 82 after battling with prostate cancer.
According to Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Karlson became famous after he was arrested after being accused of credit card fraud from outside the China Sea Restaurant in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley in October 1991.
After getting arrested, he protested and told reporters outside the restaurants, “Gentlemen, this is the democracy manifest… What is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?”
He became famous in 2009 after a clip of his arrest was uploaded on the internet.
As per Karlson's family, he died on Wednesday, August 7 at 6:31 pm, a day after his 82nd birthday. His family said in a statement, “He walked a full and colourful path and, despite the troubles thrown at him, he lived by his motto – to keep on laughing,” reported The Guardian.
His niece Kim Edwards said Karlson was ‘battling many ailments, but what got him in the end was (systemic inflammatory response syndrome).”
She described that he spent the last week of his life in a hospital where he ‘had a few attempts to escape and pulled his cords out a couple of times and asked us many times to sneak in his pipe.’
Arresting Officer Pays Tribute to Jack Karlson
Stoll Watt, one of the officers who arrested him, paid tribute to Karlos, saying, “It's a sad day for Australia as we've just lost a true colourful character. He had a very tough upbringing and life and was a product of his environment. I came to regard him as a mate, he called me comrade and said I was the only copper he ever liked."
