"What is the charge??" the man asks as a group of police officers restrains and arrests him.

"Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?!"

If you've been anywhere near the internet in recent years, you know this memorable exclamation, uttered during a 1991 exchange with police, went down in meme history in a widely circulated video.

Now Jack Karlson, the Australian man whose "succulent" dinner was famously interrupted, and who then proclaimed "democracy manifest" as he was led away by police, has died.

Karlson died following treatment for prostate cancer and systemic inflammatory response syndrome shortly after his 82nd birthday, his family told News.com.au.

The famous video (watch clip below) was recorded when Karlson was arrested by police when he was having lunch with a friend at the China Sea Restaurant in 1991.

"I'm under what?!" Karlson exclaimed when he was informed he was under arrest.

As police worked to restrain him, he said the words that would, decades later, be enshrined in meme culture.

"Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest!" Karlson said in his distinguished voice.

"Have a look at the headlock here," he continued as officers tried to get him into a car. "See that chap over there? He's ... 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?!?"

"Oh that's a nice headlock, sir," he said, addressing one officer. "Ohh yes, I see that you know your judo well."

"And you, sir," he said to another officer. "Are you waiting to receive my limp penis? How dare -- get your hands off me!"

As the police managed to get him into the car, Karlson issued a formal goodbye, as if he was reaching across the years to address his eventual internet audience.

"Tata, farewell!"

Karlson's reaction to his arrest went an early form of viral in the Australian media, but his words would live on and travel the globe through posts on X (formerly Twitter) when the footage was posted online in the 2000s.

"He walked a full and colourful path and despite the troubles thrown at him, he lived by his motto - to keep on laughing," Karlson's family said in a statement.

After Karlson's arrest, he claimed it was all a case of mistaken identity.

But per the News.com.au report, Karlson publicly talked about escaping from prison several times in his life -- once in 1996 by jumping off a train when he was being transported to a court hearing for breaking, entering and stealing and another time when he impersonated a detective after walking out of a court cell, where he had been incarcerated after being arrested in a stolen car.

Karlson's story will be told in a 2025 documentary, "The Man Who Ate A Succulent Chinese Meal."

"Jack lived a life unlike any other," director Heath Davis told News.com.au. "In fact, he's such a larger than life figure who's survived such adversity it's hard to believe he's left us ... Jack's inherent ability to always see the bright side of life despite the insurmountable hardship is something I'll carry forward with me in my own life.

"There really is only one Jack Karlson and he truly was Australia's last larrikin."