Hang in there, keep investigating! Here is what I see:

Corporations and government and police are getting too dangerous. It is not so much about the protesters being perfect as it is about putting checks and balances on these organizations that are acting in away that is unfavorable to environment (OIL), and health.

It is messy but think about it: who is going to police the police? Who will investigate the criminals when the criminals are the government and corporations? They do not investigate themselves, instead they use media to try to trick the public and barry their greedy deeds (why you see so many conflicting reports and sites like snoops.com, wikipedia, etc..)

One answer is protest and civil disobedience (as history shows this works really well). I'm not talking about disobeying good laws, I'm talking about disobeying illegal and unconstitutional laws. It is in the best interests of the protestors to act in the most ethical and moral way possible as that adds credibility to their cause. This is not scary to me, it has checks and balances built in so it is instead encouraging; encouraging that this will lead to our freedom.

Definitely explore and I suggest really learn to enjoy it. You will not freak out forever, it really becomes second nature. I think you'll find the meaning of freedom if you can get over your fears and listen to what you believe is right.